Family Ties
by sentimentalvalue
Summary: SEQUEL TO SEEMINGLY INNOCENT! Nine months after her capture, Ember's prison sentence has been increased. Desperate to save her, Raimundo sets out to find the only person capable of helping: her infamous, thieving sister...COMPLETE!
1. An upsetting note

**Hello there to all my fans, new and old! This story has anticipated for quite some time now, hasn't it? So, as promised, I bring you the sequel to my story "Seemingly Innocent." This story will put a lot more focus on the monks and perhaps a new face or two…Right well, you didn't click here to read an author's note, you came for a story! Onto the fic:**

**Family Ties**

**Raimundo's POV**

"_We can't be caught…" She lowered her head in shame._

"_But…we are." I took her chin in my head, lifting it gently. We starred into ear others eyes for a moment, and then I saw __**him**_

"Rai!" Kimiko piercing scream dragged me back into reality. I sat up in my bed and looked around, slightly dazed.

I had been dreaming peacefully, of course. About that day. That day nine months ago, when Ember, the famous "Phoenix" and criminal was finally caught. Ember, my love.

_**He**__ approached silently from behind. In his hands he held thick steel cuffs. I saw him coming. But my mouth couldn't form any words, and he quickly slapped the cuffs on her._

"_Huh? What?" Ember said confused her eyes dashing about wildly. She whipped around to face __**him**_

"Raimundo! Are you coming?" Kimiko screamed at me once more.

"Yes!" I snapped. "What do you want?" I added irritably.

"You have a letter!"

A letter? That was weird. I never got letters.

"From who?" I yelled.

"_You're caught…it's over, Ember." __**He**__ answers, trying to hide his pride and arrogance. "The phoenix has been caught."_

"_No…" Ember answers, a complete stunned look on her face. I can't see myself, but I only imagine my expression mimics hers._

_**He **__grabs Ember violently and roughly drags her to the car while explaining her rights. Standard cop procedure. Once they reach the reaming police car, the one Ember didn't have time to torch, __**he**__ brutally shoves her in. __**He **__takes her away for eternity…_

I think about that day all the time. I keep replaying the memory in my head. I can't get over it. I can't get over it, because **I** caused it. The night before that morning, I cracked, and spilled our location to the police. Ember and I were going to escape. We were going to go to Paris. But when we went to leave, it was too late. A brief struggle followed, and then came the arrest.

"I don't know!" Kimiko screamed back at me. "Just come get it before I throw it out!"

It was always like this now. I felt like my fellow monks had ripped out Ember and my happiness from right under my feet. And I was right. They did.

And my fellow monks, my _friends_, felt like I had betrayed them for a life a pleasure and wealth. And they were right. I had done that when I agreed to join up with Ember.

Eventually, after the capture, I decided I would go back to the temple, but things just haven't been right. The tension between us is huge, and fights are a common occurrence. But I try not to think about that.

Here, I'll catch you up.

_**He**_ is a police officer that goes by the name of Jim. He told me his last name once, but I don't remember it. Jim had been hounding Ember all through-out her criminal history. Ember was a bank robber. But it was more than just that. She was a VERY good bank robber. I had heard that she could rob any bank all by herself and not get caught. And then do it again at another bank, and then another, and another…

She had been on the run since she was twelve, but was a criminal since the age of eight. It was all a complicated story as to why. I knew it and I could explain it, but there are more pressing matters at the moment.

Finally nine months ago Jim got what he wanted. He arrested Ember. I had stupidly decided to strike a deal with him. I gave him her, and he let me slip away with out any charges. It was a dumb move, but we both upheld our end of the bargain.

For the longest time I was so angry at him. There were times when I wanted to kill him, and I would start plotting. Eventually I scared myself. I mean I had actually thought about _killing_ him. That is just wrong on so many levels.

I soon realized he was just doing his job, and I wasn't angry at him, I was angry at _myself_. I was the one who betrayed Ember. Eventually I moved passed all my emotional problems. I've put them behind me.

Five months ago Ember got her official sentence. She had been in like a holding prison before then. I didn't attend her trial, but was told that she didn't stand a chance. She had no lawyer, and the evidence against her was solid.

She was to be held in a juvenile detention center until she turned eighteen. Then she'd go to real prison for thirty years. She had done some bad stuff. I didn't even know the full extent of what she'd committed.

The place she was being held at wasn't like most jvuie halls. It was for kids and teens who, like her, had committed exceptional crimes but were still too young for prison. She'd been there four months now. Four months. Only thirty-three years and three months to go. Yikes.

I arrived in the kitchen where Omi was eating some cereal and Clay was reading the newspaper. I spotted Kimiko hovering over the waste basket about to throw a white envelope in.

"Gimme that!" I snatched the letter away before she could toss it. Normally I wouldn't have minded having to sift through the trash for it, but there was something green and moldy in there and I decided not to go through the garbage today.

I turned the envelope over and checked the address. I wasn't familiar with it.

"What's that?" Omi asks, craning his round head over the table.

"What do you think, dufus? A letter." I'm normally not that rude to him, but he'd particular pissed me off the day before during our training session. It was simply childish revenge.

"Who's it from?" Clay asks, but I ignore him and rip it open and start reading.

_Dear Raimundo,_

_I would like to apologize about not getting in touch with you earlier. There were matters which I promised to inform you of, but was just so busy I didn't have the time. I know, that's not a very good excuse, but it's the truth. I've been busy. However, something urgent came up. I am still very busy, but I knew I couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell you this. I also apologies if this letter is sloppy, I'm writing it quickly while I eat my lunch, so it will arrive in time._

It was then that Raimundo spied a large mustard stain on the paper. But continued to read regardless of it:

_I don't know the full details, but recently a colleague of mine found new evidence against crimes that Mary Smith, or Ember as you know her, had committed throughout the years. I don't know what these crimes are, but they must be pretty severe, for Ember's sentence has been increased._

_Ember's sentence has been increased to the maximum sentence. I'm sorry Raimundo but…they're going to execute her._

_There was a huge trail battling the judge's decision, but things would not change. As much as I do not like the girl, I never wanted to see her die, just punished. I swear to you that I have been fighting this, trying to get them to be more lenient, but to no avail. I even went so far as to hire a lawyer for her. He tried arguing that she wasn't even adult yet, but apparently there's some big legal loophole in the system, and it doesn't matter that she's a minor. I've done all I can, but unfortunately there is nothing we can no longer do._

_She will be executed in seven weeks, by means of lethal injection. Though I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, Raimundo, I knew I had to tell you. I do have somewhat comforting news, however. You, and your friends, if they wish, can be allowed to visit Ember before…well you know._

_If you are interested in this offer, please mail me back and I will make the proper arrangement._

_Sincerely,_

_Lieutenant Jim Cadicci_

I starred at the letter in disbelief, trying desperately not to cry.

"What did it say, Rai?" Clay asks. "Your face looks pretty intense." Without answer I thrust the letter at his face. He caught it as it drifted through the air and read it out loud to my fellow monks in training.

"So…" Omi was the first to speak. "They are going to kill her?"

"Seems that way." Clay answered.

"Good." Kimiko says bitterly. That did it. Omi had to restrain me as I tried to tackle Kimiko. I didn't care if she was a girl, or my friend, she'd gone too far. I wanted to punch her.

Finally I settled down and sat at the table, still trying not to cry, but I feel some small tears slip away regardless. Kimiko is glaring at me, but soon takes pity at my tears and averts my gaze.

"I'm sorry Rai." Omi tells me.

"We know you really liked- er- loved her." Clay adds. Omi and Clay turn to Kimiko. She sighs.

"I'm sorry they're going to kill her, Raimundo. I don't really want her dead. I'm sorry for what I said." Kimiko says genuinely.

I can't hold back anymore. I bring my hands to my face and let out a big sob. I feel stupid, wailing like a baby in front of my friends, but I just can't help it. It isn't often you hear the girl you love is on death row.

Kimiko scoots her chair towards mine and awkwardly pats my back. Trying to comfort me, but doing a lousy job.

"Do you…are you going to visit her?" Clay asks, tentatively.

I hesitate for a moment, then, "Yes. I…want to see her…one more time."

"The letter says we can come too…" Omi says slowly, his voice hinting at me to answer.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Kimiko asks. The same question as Omi's, but more polite.

"If…if you guys want to come I won't stop you." Though I secretly wish they don't want to come. And that if they do, they'll go on a different day.

They read right through my words and Clay answers for the group. "We'll stay here, partner."

I pull myself together after a moment, and make my way to my room and get started on my reply letter.

**And done with chapter one. This is probably the most shocking introduction chapter I've ever done. Oh, one quick note; this isn't so much of a sequel but more an aftermath. It's gone be a little on the short side. And If I had to guess, between 10 or 15 chapters, something like that. Okay, well feedback would be much appreciated!**


	2. A disturbing visit

**Sorry, I know I said I was going to update on Saturday, but then some stuff came up unexpected. And then I never have any time to write on Sundays, so I'm updating today. Still, a four day wait is nothing; so no complaining. Right, well, onto chapter two:**

Four days later and I was off to visit Ember. Jim dropped by the temple and drove me over to the prison facility. It was very weird seeing him again and being in the same car together. For a while I felt my inner anger start to fire up again, but I suppressed it. It wasn't his fault…it wasn't his fault…

We left at five in the morning but the ride was six hours long so we got there at eleven. And Jim was driving pretty fast; I wondered how long the trip should really take. At least the drive was pleasant; Jim didn't try to be polite and make small talk. He just ignored me, which I preferred.

"This is it." Jim said as we pulled into a small parking lot. "I'll go in with you." I nodded silently and looked up at the prison. It was a big square building, with few, very small windows and peeling off-white paint. There were also security cameras everywhere. Great…I just _loved_ being watched.

We got out of the car and I surveyed the rest of the area. I noticed two search light towers and several other police officers at different positions. We approached two of the guards standing by a door.

"Authorizations, please." The left guard commanded. He was a surly looking dude.

Jim nodded and showed his badge to the guy.

"Lieutenant Cadicci; coming to see number 496 again?" The guard asked.

"Yep." I assumed Ember was 496.

"And who's this?" The guard on the right asked. He wasn't as big as the left one but he had a very scary, intimidating face.

"Pendrosa, Raimundo; he's coming to see 496, too." Jim answered for me. "I trust him."

"Hmm…I don't know…looks suspicious." Right guard replies. Please…he's one to talk.

"I'm sure it's fine. Nothing ole Jim can't handle anyway, eh? All right," Left guard says as he pulls out a walkie talkie. "Send 'em in."

A loud buzzing noise makes me jump as Jim pushes the door open. We're in a long, white and yellow hall way. The air conditioning is up way to much and there are guards everywhere. I see a metal detector up ahead.

Jim and I are patted down, passed through detectors and all other sorts of security tests before we reach a desk with a large woman sitting at it. She's painting her nails and reading a magazine at the same time. As it goes with out saying the magazine had polish all over it from her trying to multitask without paying attention to her hands. She had a deep, throaty voice but seems friendly. She gets me a visitor's pass and other papers and welcomed Jim hello.

"Hey kid," She calls as we're about to be buzzed in through double doors. "Wait! 496, right? Mary Leigh Smith? Yeah…that's the one. 496, kid, she's…she doesn't like visitors. You be careful kid." She presses a button and we hear the buzz again as two more security guys let us through.

"Please…Ember will be happy to see me." I say cockily as we push open the doors. "Why does everyone call her 496?"

"There are over two thousand teenagers and children at this facility. Names become less important." Jim answers as I get my first look at the prison, or at least some of it. We're in a pretty small room with a long row of phones. People are sitting at the phones, some crying. There's a glass between the crying people and a bunch of teens and children in orange jumpsuits. I'd seen the situation before on T.V., but that was just TV. This was _real_. And some of the kids looked even younger than I was.

"So do I just wait at a phone and wait for them to bring Ember?" I ask and Jim starts laughing hysterically.

"Ah…that's a good one, Rai."

"I'm serious." I said, annoyed that he was laughing. This may have all been fun and games for him but this was hard moment for me.

"Oh…Ember isn't trusted enough to come to the phones. She doesn't have that privilege. No, we're going straight to her cell…her special cell. Right…through here." We stopped at another pair of double doors as we got buzzed in again. Now I had my real first look at the prison.

The room stretched farther than I could see into a long rectangle. Like the rest of the building, it was bright white with many cameras and a police officer at every cell. The cells were your typical metal bars but there were dozens of them. The room was set up so that I could see the floor above us. It too had row after row of cells. This room was much hotter and stuffier. I guessed that the inmates didn't get air conditioning.

"The prison is divided into boys and girls. Above us are the boys. But this is just one floor." Jim explained. I looked around. Everywhere kids and teenagers were screaming and yelling incoherently. And to think that this was just one floor…

"This is depressing." I remark.

"Tell me about it." Jim says glumly. "These kids are just throwing away their lives…" We pass a cell and a girl screams loudly and reaches out through the bars. She has extremely long, curly brown hair and big blue eyes.

"It was the peacocks! They made me do it!" She screams at us. I get a little closer to Jim. "It was all their entire fault! I'm innocent! You can't keep me here!" She swipes her hands trying to grab at Jim.

"No hands through bars!" The guard by her cell snaps and she pulls her hands in.

"They made me do it! Get the peacocks! It's their fault! Arrest them! Arrest the peacocks!" She starts screaming she's innocent again as we finally pass.

"What's her problem?" I ask. "Why is she here?"

"Lets see…" Jim looks back at a white plaque with black numbers by her cell door. "Number 828…oh, I remember her case. She was at a zoo when all of sudden she just snapped. She had smuggled in a knife some how. Injured three animals and caused a stampede. Resisted arrest. They had to shoot her with a stun gun, I believe. 46 witness to the whole thing. At least twenty of them testified."

"And…the peacocks made her do it?"

"That's what she said in court. Thing it, the incident happened at the lion and monkeys cages. The peacocks were a good few yards away from her when it happened. But she claims that they were egging her on, and that their bright colors were teasing her."

"So she's crazy." I state.

"Yes, pretty much."

"Then why isn't she in an institute?"

"She is. This is the mental ward. They attended daily therapy classes in the basement. They're too violent to go to a normal rehabilitation center. You know…Ember should probably be in this ward. But they placed her cell on the top floor..." His words disturbed me.

"And why should Ember be in the mental ward?" I asked, panicked.

"No!" A loud yell cut through the air. "You can't put me back there! I didn't do nothing wrong! I ain't guilty of anything! They all said yes, they did! They's all lying! They said yes! Those stupid whores they just wanted me in trouble! I didn't force them into anythin'!" I looked up at the next floor. A boy, maybe around seventeen, was being forced into a cell by three guards.

"I bet you can figure out what he did." Jim says as the boys screams start to die down.

"He…uh…raped someone?" I ask.

"Five women reported him. One of which wasn't actually a women at all, but his three year old cousin."

"That's horrible." I gasp looking away from the scene. "Is that the…rapist hall?"

"No…that's the…uh…Actually, I forget what ward that is. Ah, we're here." I look ahead to see an elevator with a guard standing by it.

"We're here to see 496." Jim says to the guard showing his badge at the same time.

"I thought 496 wasn't suppose to have visitors anymore?" The guard replies, confused.

"She's not. Rai, show him your papers." Jim commands. I show the guard my visitor pass and the permits that the woman gave me before.

"All right, permission to use the elevator granted." The guard moved to the side.

"My key broke." Jim tells the guard. "May I have the override?"

"Jim…" The guard sighs. "You know I have to go through all those stupid procedures now."

"Sorry…"

The guard has to get all of our identification and has to check us again for things we shouldn't have. It takes another fifteen minutes.

"All right, here." He says and hand over what looks like a white credit card.

"Thanks." Jim swipes the card through a machine and hands it back to the guard. The doors slide open to the elevator and we step inside. Jim hits floor six.

"You're in for one hell of a treat, boy." The guard says as the doors close.

"What's floor six?" I ask peering at camera.

"A new hall. It used to be just a five story building. Ember is on floor six…floor six is coed, and it's for…even more dangerous people. Five is also for very dangerous, disturbed teens. The one's that acted on their free will, not the crazy ones. Six was constructed specifically for Ember a year ago when she first entered Chine, before she was caught, of course, and before she went back to the Americas, but there are three other kids on the hall as well. It's too big for just one person."

"So what did the other kids on the hall do?" I asked nervously.

"One is a serial killer…don't know about the other two." I gulped and looked up. The elevator was on floor four and just reached five. It was a very slow ride.

"I'd kill them again if I could!" I heard a muffled yell from outside and then hysterical laughter. Suddenly this didn't seem very safe.

"So what exactly is the difference between five and six?" I ask.

"The four teens on six need special arrangements to keep them here and away from people. The teens on five are just as bad but not as…dangerous…aggressive…whatever you want to call them. Oh, we're here." The elevator slides open.

It's another white hall, but it branches off at all of the corners. I guess each prisoner had their own corner. At the end of the hall an entire SWAT team stood waiting.

"They're there just in case there's an emergency of some sort." Jim sees me eying them.

"That sounds great…" I notice more cops at each corner. "Are the other teens here…are they…are they on death row to?"

"I don't know…don't think about it, Raimundo."

I continue down the hall but Jim pulls me aside to the bottom left corner. I look up and see a sign that reads:

**Number 4-9-6**

**Warning!**

**Extremely Dangerous!**

**Do not enter **

**unprotected**

"Reminds me of the 'don't feed the bears' signs…"I laugh nervously.

Jim nods, unenthusiastically. "You ready to see her?"

A female screams loudly in the distance. I wonder if it's her.

"Yes…" I proceed down the hall for the long awaited meeting.

**This chapter was originally going to include Ember, but I realized it was getting VERY long. But I think it's better this way. Now there can be an entire chapter of Ember goodness. And then maybe a new face…By the way, this story is completely fictional. I have no idea what a prison looks like on the inside, or whether not children can be executed. They probably can't, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, the point I'm making is I don't really know **_**that **_**much about the legal system, so I apologize if it's unrealistic. It's just a story, after all. Well…Review please! It's rude to read things without reviewing!**


	3. The Phoenix

**Gonna try to update again this weekend. Enjoy:**

Ember's cell room was a large square shape, but not very much room to walk around. In front of us was this huge transparent wall. It looked like glass, but I wasn't sure if it was. The glass-like box covered the rest of the room. There was one guard in the room behind the glass, but I was sure there was a whole team waiting in case of emergency. There were many security cameras, but none were in the cell. They probably didn't want Ember torching them. There were two, thick, metal doors on the left side of the cell and another one on the right. There was red curtain towards the back of the cell, and there, shrunken up in the corner, was Ember.

Her orange jumpsuit was about four times to big, and looked like it was trying to swallow her up. I remembered the first time I saw Ember. She had died the tips of her hair orange red, so that when combined with her own naturally blond hair, it looked like fire. But after nine months the tips had grown out and faded. Now her hair just looked Blonde, with a pinkish color at the very end of the tips. Ember, being a twin and all, was a very petite girl. She was incredibly short and pretty skinny, too. She looked like she had grown an inch or two. As for her weight, the jumpsuit was confusing me to much to tell. She was sitting with her head in her hands, so I couldn't see those red eyes I remembered so well.

I wanted to step closer, but I just couldn't find the strength. Truth was, I was dead nervous about seeing her.

"So…the…uh…her jumpsuit looks too big." I remark to Jim.

"We had to fire proof everything in the cell. Most fireproof clothes are really baggy." He explained. "What Ember used to wear was a new prototype that she stole. It was looser and more form fitting."

"Oh…cool…I guess…" I still was feeling nervous, so I kept making small talk. "How does she breathe in there? There aren't any holes in the glass…or whatever this is."

"It isn't glass, it's some new material. And there some sort of filtration system in the ceiling or something. It allows oxygen and sound in and out. I'm not sure how the whole thing works, but it was designed by a rocket scientist or something specifically for her."

"That's pretty complex…so, uh, she can hear us?"

"Yep. You can go talk to her, if you like."

"O-Okay…" I stepped forward slowly and put my hand on the glass. "Uh…hi Ember." No response. "She can hear us, right?"

Jim sighed loudly. "She can but she chooses not to." He banged on the wall. "Come on Mary, wakey wakey!"

"MY NAME ISN"T MARY!" She screamed loudly, leaning forward and banging on the floor as her body became engulfed in flame. I jumped. I couldn't help myself. The sudden outburst was scary. There was a loud "beep beep" noise as a ceiling sprinkler activated, putting out Ember's flame. I was now starting to remember what Jim had said back in the mental ward…

"Then what is your name, Mary?" Jim asked.

"I AM THE PHOENIX!" She yelled jumping up from the floor and smashing into the wall. She was just inches away from me but I couldn't reach out and hug her or anything. "I AM! FEAR THE PHOENIX! THE PHOENIX WILL ESCAPE AGAIN!" It would have been comical if it wasn't so scary.

Ember glared at Jim through the wall, smashing her fists into it every now and then. It had to be incredibly strong material to be resisting her continuous blows. Also, I could've sworn it sounded like she was growling…

"Ember…" I said softly. "Ember look at me…please…" I must've gotten her attention because she turned slowly and her face twisted into shock as she saw me.

"Rai…Raimundo…" She said quietly, side stepping over to me. "Raimundo…" She said again. There were tears falling down her cheeks, and her eyes looked tired and sunken in. She put her hands on the wall mimicking the position of mine. If it weren't for the wall, we would've been touching.

"Raimundo…" She pressed her nose into the wall, leaving a small smudge. "No…he can't be here…no…no…it can't be you…" She took her hands off the wall and took a step backwards.

"OH NO!" She wailed loudly. "NOW I'M HULICINATING!" She started to sob loudly as she backed away more and fell on her rear end.

"Lunch. It's feeding time, Ember." A voice came over on the loud speaker. I then noticed that the guard was no longer there. It must've been him on the speaker. At the speaker, Ember instantly turned to face the single door on the right. The movement gave me a better view of her hair, which looked limp and un-groomed. She definitely needed a haircut.

A slit in the door opened up and a plate was pushed through. It was simple white plate and it had something that looked like mashed potatoes on it and a chicken drumstick. Ember got on her knees and crawled over to the plate, almost tripping on her long orange outfit.

"Oh boy…" Jim said. "Now you'll get to see what she does when-" A loud scream pulled me away from Jim and I looked towards Ember. She was hovering over the plate screaming as loudly as she could. Next thing I knew the food had caught fire. It just spontaneously combusted or something from Ember's screaming.

With another 'beep,' the sprinklers activated but Ember kept screaming and sustaining the flame regardless of the water spray. She was soon dripping wet. But she kept screaming, no pauses in between. She was soaked, red in the face, and just standing over the flambéed chicken leg.

After a minute she stopped but the sprinkler kept going, even after the fire was put out. The piece of chicken was now very black and gross looking, not to mention very wet.

"Aw crap…" The voice on the speaker said. "The sprinklers are jammed. 496, you're just gonna have to wait until the water runs out. Sorry…I'll open up the drain holes…" There was mechanical click, but no visible signs of anything happening. Anything that I could see anyway.

"Ever since she got her original sentence she's done this. She sets all her food on fire. But eventually she always eats it." Jim says to me.

"That…doesn't sound appetizing. Or healthy."

"Doctor said she was fine and eating enough…however, the doctor was only in there for five minutes before he came running out screaming. His hair was on fire and he had second degree burns all over himself. Guess that's our fault…we forgot to warn him about her…condition."

"I vaguely remember Ember saying something about not liking doctors…" I comment.

"Well we certainly know that now. After the check-up she stood in the cell for two days, hands ablaze, yelling that if we ever had anyone 'violate' her again that she would burn the whole building down. No one doubted her, either. You know, she has her own bed? Yeah, it's not like a little mat or anything. She gets a lot of stuff just because the staff is too afraid to refuse her requests."

"What do you mean by violate?" I ask feeling an inner fire in my own body start to flare up.

"We asked the doctor about it. He said he just preformed a regular routine. He said she really started freaking out when he took her heart rate…guess she didn't want anyone touching her chest."

"Guess not…I can't believe…I mean She…she's not even remotely happy to see me." I said, hurt.

"Don't worry about it Rai…I'm not sure if you want to hear this or not, but with her current mental state, killing her may be a mercy." No…I didn't want to hear that. How could he be so cruel? A mercy killing? Mercy killing is when you have the vet put down your cat when it gets a tumor in it's lung and can't breath. Mercy killing is not eliminating all the crazies in the world.

I turned away from Jim and back to Ember. She was now gnawing on the burnt chicken leg. Small pieces of charred chicken kept falling on the floor. She looked up at us and her eye narrowed when the met Jim's gaze. A small piece of food fell out of her mouth.

"Get out of here Jim." She said throwing a first full of mashed potatoes that splattered against the wall. "No one wants to see you here…none of us wanna look at you…you and your ugly face…" I involuntarily looked at Jim…he did sort of have an ugly face…

"You to!" She yelled throwing more potatoes. "Get out of here you hallucination…go bother Stacy…"

"We should leave…" Jim said slowly.

"Okay…" We started walking away.

"AND TELL DAN TO CLEAN UP MY DAMN CELL!" She screamed as we entered the hallway.

"Dan is the cleaning guy…he hates going into her cell. We think she tries to dirty it up to annoy him. I'm sorry you had to see her like this Rai, but…still, I thought you would need the closure…I'm starting to think maybe I was wrong about that…"

"Who is Stacy?" I ask. "She told me to go bother Stacy…"

"We're not sure who Stacy is but we have a guess…"

"What?"

"We think…perhaps…an…imaginary friend."

"Oh…."

"Uh…I'll drive you home now. We can get lunch on the way."

I nodded silently. Ember couldn't stay here anymore, her condition was horrible. Ember couldn't die, she just couldn't. It was then that I made up my mind:

I was going to break her out of jail.

**In case you need help with the visual when Ember is screaming continuously, then I have an example of which I based it on. It was sort of based on the scene in the movie "Mean Girls" when Regina realizes what's been going on and just screams and does the whole thing with the 'burn book.' And if you've never seen "Mean Girls," then it's also sort of like the part in the game "Nancy Drew: Danger by Design" where Minette gets mad in the beginning at Heather and screams her head off. And if you've never played that game or seen that movie then…just picture someone screaming insanely. And then go watch Mean Girls 'cause it's an awesome movie. Right…well, please review now.**


	4. Sounds like a plan

**Haven't updated in a while because my sister, who is pretty much done with school, has been home a lot and she hogs the computer. I don't blame her, I would do the same, but I haven't had time to update. Anyway, so here's the next chapter, slightly delayed:**

I knew convincing my friends to help me free Ember would be no easy feat; but I had to try.

"You're crazy!" Kimiko screamed as I finished explaining my trip to the jail, and my plan of action. "You're crazier than she is!"

"And she sounds quite bad, my friend." Omi cuts in.

"I don't care! She's only like this because of them!" I argue. "We have to help her!"

"NO WAY!"

"Why not?" I yell back. "Huh? Why? Give me one good reason! You guys are my friends; you're supposed to help me with my problems!"

"OH, DON'T EVEN TRY IT, RAI!" Kimiko completely looses it and gets in my face. "Help you? Because we're your friends? ARE YOU ACTUALLY ATTEMTPING TO PLAY THE FRIEND CARD? Where were you? Where were you all those times we needed you? Huh? WHERE!"

"She has a point Raimundo." Clay says softly.

"I DON'T CARE IF SHE HAS A POINT!" I scream, loosing my temper much like Kimiko did. "I am saving her no matter what happens; now we can be in this together, or alone, but that choice is up to you three." I want to leave and make a dramatic exit, but my legs won't carry me. Like my brain is sending all sorts of signals to stay firmly planted where I am.

"Raimundo, I agree with you." Omi says and my face starts to light up. "I agree that she should not be put to death, especially at such a young age. But we cannot just go breaking a convicted criminal out of jail. If she were an innocent person I would not mind having to save her; but she is not."

"Innocent?" I want to say calm, but shriek the word against my will. "INNOCENT? What the heck? What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has to do with everything, Raimundo!" Clay exclaims, shocking us all because he hardly ever raises his voice. "Why should we save a criminal? They have done wrong and need to be punished. But an innocent person always deserves another chance." He explains, and then adds a little more calmly. "I agree that she should not be killed, but we can't do anything to stop that. Breaking her out is a little insane, partner."

I clench my fists together and my teeth start grinding against one another. "What about that avalanche? There was an avalanche a year ago. It was going to crush a village in the mountains, remember? And what did we do? We saved that village. We saved _each_ and _every_ last person. And how do we know? How do we know that they were all 'good' innocent people? It was a large village; there had to be some thieves in there. But no, we didn't ask questions. We just swooped in there and saved them all. They got a second chance. We just believed they were good people because we chose not to think about it. For all we know, that was a village of cannibals. We just saved them, because that's the Xiaolin way. They could have all be so bad. They could have been a group of people who didn't deserve a second chance, because they to were guilty. But that didn't stop us then, and that shouldn't stop us now."

"I hardly believe there are cannibals left anymore Rai, and we KNOW that Ember was guilty." Kimiko says curtly.

"That's not the point!" I'm only seconds away from having a hysterical breakdown. "Do you think she should die, Kimiko?"

"What?"

"Do you think Ember should die for the crimes she's committed?"

"No." Kimiko says while fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Exactly. All of you have agreed that she shouldn't die. That she needs help." I try to hide it as tears start pooling up in the corners of my eyes. "So why won't you help me?"

"Rai, you have to think of the risk here." Kimiko tells me. "We could, and will, get caught if we try and save her. For all you know, we'd all end up on death row. And what would that accomplish?"

"She was your friend." I can't help it and I start to cry again like an upset child. "She was your friend for a time…yes, she betrayed you all, but for those weeks, those first few weeks, she was our friend. And that was _real_. Yes she stole, and yes she burned down a lot of things along the way, but why? Is she really some evil person? She…she's screwed up. She's really screwed up. But we could help…we could save her…yes, we could save her on the one condition that she has to change her ways!" I gasp, excited. "We could convince her! I know we could! We can help her. We can help her become a good person. I know we can…so, what do you guys say?"

"Raimundo, my friend, you are quite the persuasive one." Omi says, stroking my ego. "But still…"

"But still what? She was your friend, was she not?"

"Well yes, but-"

"And she did have a messed up past that can be blamed for all thieving, right?"

"I suppose, but still-"

"And we're all in agreement that she shouldn't die, aren't we?"

"YES RAI, BUT STILL!"

"STILL WHAT?" I scream extremely loudly. I think I've scared them.

"Hold on Rai, just let us go talk for a minute." Kimiko says and other two follow her off into a building while I wait at the temple gates. Fifteen minutes later they return.

They're all standing there starring at me. Finally Clay nudges Kimiko forward.

"We've decided…uh," She begins. "None of us really like the idea, Rai…but, you're right about saving her. You're right about all of it. And we agree that it would be in her best interest if she became a better person. Maybe we could even hide her here at the temple for a while, and then when she's all… 'cured' we can tell Jim, and maybe cut some sort of deal. So…anyway, after a lot of debate and looking at it from all angles, we've decided that her sentence is unjust and unfair, and we'll help you."

"You will?" I start crying now, but they're tears of joy.

"Yes, but-"

"Oh no, there's a but…there's always a but…"

"But we're worried about the actual breaking out part. So we will help you on one condition. And that condition is you either find someone with experience in this field to help us, or you come up with some great master plan of saving her. Otherwise the risk is too much, and we're out."

I sigh heavily. "That's like the one thing I can't do…I know it isn't smart, but we don't have much time. How will we be able to devise a plan that quickly?"

"Oh, Raimundo, we had another plan." Clay says. "We had another plan that maybe we could hire someone to break her out…it's a little less risky but we don't know how to pay them."

"Maybe we'll find someone who doesn't want payment!" Omi says. I'm not sure if he's joking or being optimistic.

"Wait a minute…" I say, my heart rate starting to elevate. "What if there is someone? What if there is someone who _did_ have enough experience to break her out? And someone who _would_ for free?"

"Is there even anyone on the entire planet who would even do that?"

"Yes…yes there is!" I say growing more excited by the minute.

"Well, who?"

"_Icicle_!"

"Who?"

"Icicle! Her sister! Ember's sister Icicle!" The tears of happiness flowing very freely now. "She can help us! She _will_ help us!"

My fellow monks exchange glances, then answer as a group;

"Sounds like a plan!"

**I have to say, I like how this chapter turned out. I think I balanced the emotion well. I really like how the feeling went to just pure, overwhelming frustration and all other sorts of bad emotions, to hope. To happy, much welcomed hope. Also, I enjoyed bringing up Ember's past again. In most "OC" fics the character has this sad, tragic past, but at the same time is this happy, bubbly character. It just becomes very mary-sue-ish. But in this story, she is messed up, and she is messed up because of her childhood. Anyway, I just like how it all fits. I've been planning a lot of this story ever since "Seemingly Innocent," and I love the way everything is coming together. I just think I did a really good job…But, who care's what I think? What do **_**you**_**guys think?**


	5. Research

**This chapter turned a lot longer than I thought it would. But I like it. Enjoy:**

Tracking down Icicle proved to be quite the challenge, but we were up to it. The four of us spent our days searching the internet for mentions of her, and brainstorming places she may live. It was tough work. And five days after my jail visit, I was starting to worry.

"What if we don't find her in time?" I ask frantically as the four of us huddle around Kimiko's computers.

"If we don't find her…we don't find her." Clay says. "We can always try another plan."

"I am most confident we will find her. We are smart monks!" Ever-cheerful Omi adds his two cents. Kimiko sighs, loudly and angrily.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah there's a problem! All this research keeps leading to is risqué websites that are loaded with viruses! My laptop may never work right again!" Kimiko exclaims loudly.

"Well at least you'll get to live." I say firmly. Her sharp expression softens.

"Well that puts things in perspective…"

"Did you find Icicle anywhere?" I ask hopefully.

"No, just mentions here and there of some crimes she may or may not have done. I've found a few blogs that mention seeing someone that looks like her, but no one out right knows anything. She's covered her tracks well." Kimiko reports, turning back to the computer. Her game face is on. "But, get this; all the mentions of her come from people in North America; mostly the United States. I don't think she travels very much. So our best bet,"

"Would be to look in America." I finish for her.

"Exactly."

"Okay, so North America." Clay repeats. "That narrows it down to one continent. Anything else we can think of to help narrow it down more?"

"Well, Ember's cache was in Texas, and if we're sure she's in North America then Icicle is probably in the United States somewhere." I tell them. "So she's probably in the US. That narrows it down."

"Not necessarily," Kimiko cuts in. "Don't forget Canada. I've got a list here of some crimes she's committed in Canada."

"This is hard…" I sigh. I'm not really complaining, though. Just noting a fact. "Hold on, think of her name: _Icicle_. I think she's somewhere cold. Like, really cold. I think we should look somewhere cold. What are the cold states? Clay, you live there, what are they?"

"Antarctica!" Omi exclaims loudly. I wince. He isn't very good at geography. "Antarctica is very cold!"

"Um, Omi," Kimiko's says trying to sound sweet and nice, "Antarctica is a little to cold to live in, if you what I mean. And also, it isn't in North America…it isn't even in the northern hemisphere. But, good guess! You're thinking, you're helping." She encourages.

"What about…what about Alaska?" I ask tentatively.

"Alaska?" They repeat as a group.

"Yeah…It's cold. It's in America, and it's close to Canada. I think it works." I tell them.

"That just might work…hold on." Kimiko turns back to the computer and cross references "Alaska" and "Icicle". A bunch of results come up.

"Uh…maybe you should try other keywords." Clay instructs. Kim then tries adding 'thief' and 'safe house' to the mix. Less results, but still too many. We keep at it for another minute before Kimiko gasps loudly.

"Found her!"

"Where?" Me and my fellow boys ask and lean in towards the computer. Kimiko brings up a webpage and we start reading aloud.

"It's a long page, save your breathe." Kimio says, shushing us. "But the gist of it is that she lived in northern Alaska a few years ago, that much is fact. I don't know if she still there, but it's worth looking. I've got exact coordinates."

"Exact coordinates?" I ask. "Doesn't that sound…suspicious?"

"A little, yes…"

"Well, we have to start somewhere don't we? This is a good chance, we shouldn't waste this opportunity." Clay states. "I think we should go for it."

"But my friend, what if it is a trap?" Omi asks him.

"I think, we can handle anything. We are Xiaolin Monks after all." Clay says and they turn to me. Waiting for my final decision.

"We leave tomorrow morning." I say firmly.

--

The next morning we're off to Alaska. We don't bother with plane tickets; Dojo is taking us. We've made all arrangements with Master Fung. He isn't happy with out decisions, but says that he has to let us lead our own lives. We're all welcome at the temple, including Ember. He also gives us a list of names; friends. People to contact in case we run into trouble. He waited at the temple gate, wishing us well as we departed.

It was a long flight. I'm not sure how long, but at least several hours. We're going fast. Dojo is flying as fast as he can. It's a breezy day. As we pass over the Atlantic we take turns holding up a blanket for each other, so we can change into warmer clothes. Kimiko had spent the entire night shopping for us. We all needed warmer clothes and she volunteered to get them. I had to admit, the girl had style; she'd picked out a huge winter coat for each of us. They were well insulated, comfortable, functional, and stylish. Everything we could ask for in the harsh environment.

--

A few hours later and we've landed. We've been exploring. Kimiko's leading us with her GPS. She says we're close, but she's worried that it will die any minute from the cold.

And believe me, it is cold. We're all shivering , our teeth are chattering, and every few seconds we pull our coats closer to out body. Clay suggests we walk closer to each other so we can sort of huddle. The combined body heat isn't much, but we do so anyway.

"This should be it." Kimiko yells over the wind. The wind has picked up and it's snowing. A snowstorm, pretty much. Note to self; never visit Alaska in January.

"I don't see anything!" Clay roars.

"I _can't _see anything!" Omi complains about the lack of visibility. I look around. It's like being at the beach but instead of sand dunes, there's snow dunes. And instead of the crashing waves there's snow. Lots and lots of snow. The scenery actually reminds me a lot of the Himalayan Mountains. When Ember was on the run we had tracked her down to the mountains. And it was just as snowy and cold and deserted as this was.

Of course, it wasn't all deserted in Alaska. We had passed several towns and stores. Little communities. But we were now in the uninhibited parts. Which made this the perfect place for Icicle.

It was interesting, I thought, how the two girls preferred being around their elements. I was sure that Icicle was here the moment we landed. It was icy and cold; perfect for her. Ember too flocked to hot places. She had told me once she wanted to live in a Volcano, just because she could withstand the heat. She said she hadn't gone through with the plan because all her money would burn up.

As I'm reflecting, Omi suddenly shouts that he's seen something. We all huddle closer.

"What is it?" I yell.

"I don't know!" We get closer again. I see a small silver object. It' very tiny and very shiny, and that's all I know about it.

"It looks like a canister of some sort!" Dojo shouts, popping his head out of Clay's hat, his hiding place.

Wait a canister…in the middle of no where…I look around. A see something quickly dart behind a mound of snow. I turn back, Omi starts moving to poke the canister.

"OMI NO!" Too late. The canister opens and a dark gas spews out, filling the air. We all start coughing and choking.

I bring a cloth up to my face, trying to block the fumes, but I've already inhaled too much. I can feel reality slipping away. I look in the distance. I see the figure again. Dashing around wildly. I think it's human, but it's very fast. Almost to fast…the figure comes closer to us…slowly…not to fast…normal speed…my eyes start to close. I feel myself fall.

My eyes snap open. _Why am I on the ground? Why are my hands bound? We're still in the same place…_I can see the figure now. Hovering over my face. It's a ski mask…just a black ski mask…just…_darkness._

**Oh boy! Suspense! Can't wait to see what happens next, can you? Well, Review please now! I've noticed that a couple of people stopped reviewing after the first chapter, and that bothers me because they're still reading it…**


	6. Icicle

**So sorry! I know it's been a really long time since I updated but I have reasons; I've been busy, I've been having major friend drama lately, it's the holidays and there are things that needed to be done, and a whole list of other reasons that I don't feel like getting into. Also, one more quick note. My parents have just sprung this on me so I'm not exactly happy about it, but we will be gone July 17****th**** to July 28****th****. A pretty long time. I am trying to update even more so I can finish my both my fics before I leave, because that would relive a lot of stress. And though I don't have that much more left to write, it's still a significant amount and I probably won't make that 'deadline.' So unfortunately, the completion of my fics has pretty much been pushed to an even later time. Just wanted to let you know. All right, enough talk, enjoy:**

I wasn't really conscious, yet somehow just very aware. Aware of what was happening. I was being carried. On some sort of stretcher. Every now and then I see mountains and snow before my eyes flutter shut once more.

After a bit of being carried I feel myself fall onto the ground. My eyes weren't open, but I was paying attention anyway.

"Who do you think they are?" the voice of a girl asks. She sounds very far away…

"Dunno…" Another girl answers, she sounds a little more sharper and clearer. "Wonder though…four kids out in the middle of no where…"

"You don't think they know, do you?" The first voice gasps. "I heard about the cops using children to do investigation. What if they know about us? Do you think they do?"

"Pfft, no. Why would they know about the FQ?" The second voice chuckles. "You haven't been working for her long enough, Amy. FQ doesn't ever leave a trail."

I start loosing consciousness again. I can feel myself slipping away…

"Guys –er- gals, I just got a message from FQ, she wants us to bring them directly to her." Someone else says. It sounds like another voice of a different girl, but I can't tell. My hearing is failing…I am gone once more.

--

I don't know how much longer it is, maybe hours, maybe seconds. But suddenly I'm dumped onto a hard floor. It's cold. I think its ice.

"Who are these people?" I hear another voice. It's s girl's voice, yet again. She speaks slowly, deliberately, coldly. This is a girl who expects everyone to listen to her and always gets her way. This is someone that could intimidate anyone. She has an air of authority and arrogance about her voice. And yet, she sounds familiar, almost.

Amazing what you can tell from someone's voice.

I open my eyes. I see my friends and we all look at each other, not saying anything. We're all awake. Just starring at each other and ignoring the conversation going on around us. And I was right. We're on a patch of ice, laying down, starring at each other.

We must've been freed from our binds, because I am able to sit up. I clutch at my head, feeling a bruise form. Must've hit it on the ice.

As one, the four of us look around and gasp. We're in an _ice palace_. This place looks like a castle. With medieval decorations, columns, huge elegant chandeliers, and all other sort of beautiful little touches. But everything is ice. Not just covered in ice, everything _is_ ice. It's completely made out of ice. I can barely believe me eyes. I feel like I'm dreaming.

"Bring them to me." I hear the cold voice once more. I turn around to see more ski masks. Of course, it's not a floating ski-mask monster like I thought before, but a person. They're just wearing a ski mask and I can't see their face at all. There are five of them. They push our backs and we march forward, not sure what else to do.

We moved along the length the of the room, eventually reaching a dip in the ice, forming a bit of a hill. At the other end of the hill at the very top, with a carpeted staircase leading up to it, was an ornate ice throne. It was then that I got my first real look at Icicle.

She looked just like the picture I had seen months ago. The same plain face as Ember's, but yet so different. Her eyes were a light shade of blue that was so pale it almost looked white. Her hair was long, sleek, and platinum blonde. Also so light that it almost looked white. Her face was caked with too much blue make-up and black mascara. She was extremely pale, and her nose was some-what crooked looking.

Surprisingly enough she was also wearing what I had seen her wearing in the picture. That being a dark blue "Eskimo" outfit that hat had been cut to mini-skirt length, and had fury white trim. The outfit had a hood but she wasn't wearing it, and, in the same color, she had on gloves and high heels.

I knew it was Icicle, just because I recognized her from the picture. But at the same time, I was slightly confused. Who was this FQ person we were supposedly being brought to?

I pushed the thought from my mind. We were here for Ember. I looked back to Icicle. She was sitting on the throne, furiously working on her right nails with a metal nail file. She didn't seem very attentive to us. I glanced around a bit. Throughout the entire room, every two feet or so, were more ski-masked covered people just watching us. Standing completely still, reminding me of the guards at Buckingham palace. I could tell from the bodies of these guards that they were all young girls. And they were wearing a similar outfit as Icicle, only a little more practical and less fancy.

Icicle stopped filing and looked up at us. Her creepy eyes sending a shiver down my spine. She went back to her nails.

"Who are these people?" She asked coldly.

"We found them at the decoy base." A girl from behind said. "They must know we who we are."

"Well of course they know!" Icicle snapped. "Do you think I'm stupid or something? I'm the one who made the decoy base, Ruth."

"My apologies miss." Ruth said softly.

"What do they want?" Icicle asked, sounding annoyed.

"We have come to…ask you for help." I say nervously.

"Oh? And who might you be?"

"I…I know your sister." I answer instead of saying my name.

"Of course!" Icicle yelled, jumping up from her chair. "You're Raymond! No, Richard. No, no…Ra…Raimundo! Raimundo! You're Rimundo, are you not?"

"Yes…how do you know?"

"Ember told me of you, of course. Couldn't help brag about how she'd "roped a man" as she said.…Yes, These must be those monk people. What were the names? Kimiko, Omi and Clay? Something like that?" My friends nod. "Yes, she mentioned you three as well. Quite the little devil, isn't she? Robbing you blind. So sad…so sad." Icicle didn't sound very sad or sympathetic. "Well what is it that you want? You had better not be wasting my time," Her voice went back to being sharp and intimidating. "I don't like it when people waste my time."

"We want…er, I'm sorry, I have to ask, are you FQ?" I just couldn't push the question out of my mind.

"FQ? As in frequency?"

"No...as in, like, a person. Um, a girl person." I started to feel stupid after I said it.

"Well I certainly don't know who she is." Icicle said switching the file to another finger. It was starting to annoy me that she was being so blatantly rude.

"Um, FQ is an abbreviation for Frost Queen. Some of us came up with the nickname" A small girl said from Icicle's left. "FQ is, _you._"

"That…is _The_ most retarded thing I have ever heard." Icicle replied with a taste of venom in her words. "As of now I am docking five hundred dollars from all workers every time someone says FQ. Honestly…frequency…"

"Noted, M'lady." The girl replied. It suddenly dawned on me that not only did Icicle insist on being called the queen, she acted like one to. I had remembered Ember complaining about the way her henchmen (the "ice dancers") had just blindly worshipped and praised her, but I never imagined it was this bad.

"Ahem," Icicle said clearing her throat and looking back to us. "You wanted my help with something."

"Yes, yes…we want you to help us break Ember out of jail. She's going to…she's going to be executed. And I am going to save her…I love her." I explain.

"Yes, yes, I am quite aware of the prison situation." She said with out remorse. "Ahem, so let me get this straight; you want me and my workers to sneak out in the middle of the night, fly all the way to China, break into a prison facility, get Ember and fly her back here to Alaska. Is that what you're saying?" She was purposely trying to make us feel uncomfortable, and doing a good job. For someone who was really just a young teenager she spoke like she was some sort of goddess.

"Well…yes."

"So, I, the Ice Princess, am just supposed to drop everything I am doing, hop on a plane and save my sister who was dumb enough to be caught? Yes, is that right? That's what you want me to do?"

"Yes." I said confidently.

"Okay, okay…sounds like you're really passionate about this. Trekking all the way to Alaska and all. And finding our organization, bravo, really. I applaud you."

"So…you'll do it?" I ask my hope starting to rise.

"No." She said smirking.

"What? Why not?"

"Just what am I getting out of this deal, Raimundo?"

"I…I…But they'll kill her!"

"So?" I almost fell over backwards. How could anyone be so low?

"So? She's your sister!"

"So? Make your point already."

"You're just going to let your one and only sister, your identical twin, DIE?" I scream at her.

"Yes." She said, faking sweetness and clasping her hands together. "Why should I just drop everything and save her? What am I getting from this?"

"She would save you if the situation was reversed!" I yell.

"Would she?" Icicle's challenges me, leaning forward in her throne. "Are you implying that you know my own sister better than I do? Because, dear little Raimundo, you **don't.** Now, if you really don't have anything to offer me to save her, I am perfectly fine letting her die. Can't say I really understand why you came to me. I'm sure she told you how we don't have the best relationship. Now, get out of my sight, you're boring me."

The girl behind us starts to pull us away, but she only has a good grip on Omi and Kimiko, and Clay and I break free. I march up to the stairs leading to her throne.

"You're just going to let her die because we won't pay you? Is that what you're implying?" I mimic her boldly. "You are a heartless person!" I wanted it to insult her, but she doesn't seem very phased.

She snaps her fingers and the girl holding my friends let them go. Then, very quietly she gets up and walks over to me. She's towering above me, but I'm sure that with out her very high-heeled shoes that I would be taller or the same height as her.

She bends her body slightly so that she's right in my face.

"No. Not heartless." She leans in a little more closely and whispers to me. "Just a person who is very…very…cold." With the last word I close my eyes as she blows frost on my face. I blink a few times getting the ice crystals off my eye lashes as she goes back to the throne and sits down, very lazily.

"Now, get out of my sight before I have you forcefully removed. I'm not interesting in saving Ember. Get out."

The guards start to close in on us.

"Wait!" I shout. "What…what if we make some sort of deal?" The guards pause and turn their ski-mask-covered heads towards Icicle. She shifts in her seat and crosses her legs.

"I'm listening." She says folding her hands together.

"Well…"

**I had this whole elaborate description of Icicle's home, but it became just a chapter of details and nothing else. So, I decided to leave it somewhat vague so you can use the best tool you posses to create a picture in your head. That tool being your imagination.**

**Now, not to nag or anything, but I've noticed a LOT of people have stopped reviewing this fic. If you're busy or on vacation, then fine, but if you're not, I really do appreciate reviews. Even if it's just criticism! So please, take the two minutes out of your day to tell me what you think. For this chapter I would especially like it if you told me your thoughts about Icicle…**


	7. Deal Making

**All things considered, I probably won't be updating again until I come back from my vacation. Which is the 28****th****. But, I will try to pre-write while I'm gone. I won't be able to post anything, but when I get back I should have several chapters lined up. Anyway, enjoy:**

"Well what?" Icicle snapped impatiently as I stood there with my mouth open.

"Well…er…" I suddenly felt very awkward. I didn't know at all what I was doing. "I…um…well…what sort of deal would you be willing to agree with?" I bite my tongue. Why was I acting so dumb?

"What do _you_ think I'd be willing to agree with?" Icicle asks, playing with me. Her eyes glance over to Clay. "You…cowboy, you look familiar." She gets up and strides over to him. "What's your name?"

"Clay?" He seems nervous, confused with her question.

"Not your fist name!" She yells and I can see her struggle to hold in an insult. "Your surname." She instructs, a little more calmly.

"Bailey." He answers, looking confused. "Why?"

"Bailey…Bailey, Bailey, Bailey…where have I heard that name before…" She starts to pace.

"Um, it's a fairly common name, Miss." The small girl from before squeaks. "Maybe we robbed someone with that last name."

"No, that's not it, you imbecile, it's someone else. Someone more important than that. Hmm… Bailey…Bailey…Ah!" She shouts excitedly. "Of course! Clay Bailey, from Texas, older brother of Jessica Bailey, leader of the Black Vipers. Yes. I know who you are. I've met your sister. We worked together once." Icicle sighed. "Silly girl, said she went all good when I asked her to partner once more a few months ago. Well, at least that's what she said. 'Good'. As if, implying, I am BAD?" She shouted, annoyed. I was starting to think that even with the whole solitary confinement thing, Icicle might be the crazy(ier) one.

"Well," She was back to calm again. Angry. Calm. Angry. Calm. I hoped she wasn't always like this. "You two look very similar." She stepped closer to Clay. "Of course, she didn't have your charming looks."

Charming looks?

WHAT?

WHOA!

Back up!

Did _Icicle,_ frost-princess, or whatever she calls herself, just _flirt_ with _Clay_? WHAT?

"You know," Icicle said sweetly. "I'm from Texas, originally, too." EW! I glanced to Clay. He looked disgusted. Good for him. He's too good for her. I mean, forget the fact that it's good-old-Clay, why would ANYBODY want to be with a wanted criminal?

…

Wait a minute…

"Hey, are we here for business or what?" I say to Icicle.

"Right, right, that. What do you have to offer me?" Icicle asks climbing back up the stairs.

"I…I don't know. You think of something. I just want Ember saved." I felt minutes away from breaking down again, but I refused to let Icicle see me cry.

"If you really wanted her saved, you would think of something." Icicle smirks. She was really starting to annoy me with her attitude… "I want payment of some sort."

"Payment! Payment, payment, payment!" I scream. "Why does everything have to be about money? Are you that greedy?" I know I'm taking a risk insulting her, but I'm frustrated and I need to express my anger somehow.

"Because everything is about money, Raimundo. Money is the motivation for everything in this world. And that's the truth, whether you believe it or not." I refuse to let her be right.

"That's not true, I'm not saving Ember for money." I argue.

"Oh? Are you willing to prove that statement? Are you willing to test that theory?"

"Yes…"

"Then what are you saving Ember for?" She asks icily.

"I'm saving her because I love her." I say defiantly.

Icicle laughs. Her laugh sounds like a barking dog. "Ha! False! By saving Ember, you put her in debt to you, and you claim that you love each other, so, whether conscious or not, you think that maybe one day she'll…marry you or something like that, and since she's too stupid to get a pre-nup', through marriage you instantly become a billionaire. See? Money. Everything is about money." Icicle says it like I'm too stupid to understand anything. I want to argue back, but I decide it's better to let her think she's right.

But, I can't hold back my anger any more. "Look! Either you help us or I'll-" I take a few furious steps forward feeling the wind rage through my body. But right as I reach the steps to the throne all of the "ice dancers" have surrounded me and, in the blink of an eye, all of them are holding, in both hands, long, silver, serrated knives ready to strike. Instinctively the four of us back up slightly.

"Do you _really_ want to finish that sentence?" Icicle says menacingly, slowly descending down the steps once more. Her gloves are off, revealing pale hands, and I know she's ready to lash out with ice if necessary. "Do you think this is wise? Four children against…what is it? Thirty five workers today? Yes, I do believe that is right." She smirks once more. I hate that smirk. I also don't like how she calls us children when we're all the same age as her, and, I assume, her henchmen too.

"Where did those knives come from?" Omi asks, sounding like he's still in awe over the ice cavern.

Icicle pulls one of the guards over and yanks up one of her sleeves. Intricately strapped to her arm is black, nylon-like material with a thick, padded, little mechanisms on the inside of the elbow. The knife is attached to the top of the strips of fabric by a small wire track.

"I built this. I consider myself and inventor of sorts." Icicle begins. She slides the knife up so that the handle is at the girls elbow. The girl doesn't seem to mind standing still for the demonstration. "The pressure pad is very sensitive, and certain muscle movements," Icicle pulls on the girls forearm so that her arm is completely vertical and the knife instantly slides down and fall to the floor, "trigger it to release, or retract. All of my dancers wear them." I was starting to wonder why they were called Ice Dancers. The ice part made sense, but I hadn't seen any of them dance. I made a mental note to ask Ember about it if I ever got to see her again.

"And all of us have to go through a training course to learn how to catch the knife precisely." The girl says through her masks.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Icicle seethes. The girl shakes her head and slumps back to her old position. If she were a dog her tail would be tucked between her legs.

"Well, this is getting rather boring, rather fast, I must say." Icicle says, turning to us. "I already know what I want. I thought of it almost the moment you announced who you were." She can't help but brag. "I just didn't say anything because, well, because I just didn't feel like it."

"So…what do you want?" Kimiko asks. Icicle pushes her way through us to Kimiko.

"You feel like fire…" She looks disgusted with Kim. She turns to Omi. "And you…you feel somewhat ice-ish."

"Well…I am the dragon of water…" Omi says shyly.

"Which is one of the many forms of water.." Icicle says. I wonder if she can really 'feel' our elements, or she was already informed by Ember and is just pretending to sense them to show off.

"You were saying something about a deal?" I remind her.

"Yes, yes. We will save Ember, tonight, and bring her back here. In return, while we wait for the buzz to die down, you five will live here." She smiles. "And you will do everything I say." I knew there was a catch. I turn to my friends. We talked about the deal quietly for a minute. None of us like it, but it's our only choice. And besides, we could always try to weasel out of it if she asked us to do anything to extreme, couldn't we?

"All right, fine. We'll do it." I agree to her terms.

"Good. Now…how will we get to China in time…" Icicle thinks out loud. I turn to Clay.

"Dojo? Feel up for a challenge?"

We explain to Icicle about Dojo. She seems doubtful of his powers, but we insist that he's the best form of transportation. She agrees to take him. Dojo worries that they'll mistreat him but we remind him that he is a dragon, what could they do to him?

"I'll come with you." I say to Icicle as she prepares to leave.

"No you won't. You will just slow us down. You're not coming." She says firmly and then turns around. "BETHANY!" She shouts loudly and a girl quickly runs up to her.

"Yes?" Bethany has a note-pad, and to my surprise, isn't wearing a ski mask. She has green eyes and short red hair. She's wearing a button that says "Personal Assistance to the Queen" on it.

"Find rooms for our new guests, gather my finest dancers, pack enough clothes for a few days, and cancel the Holograssi heist. We're leaving tonight." Icicle instructs as Bethany scribbles furiously on her note pad.

"But Ma'am, we've been planning the Holograssie heist for months! They're coming back tomorrow morning, if we don't do it now, they'll-" Bethany starts to say frantically, but Icicle cuts her off.

"They'll what? Are you questioning my authority as leader?" Icicle asks fiercely.

"N-n-no, Miss, I am just w-worried that this is our only chance."

"They are rich snobs, for Pete's sake, they'll go on another vacation. We'll have other chances. We will reschedule the heist. Now, gather my Ice Dancers." She says through gritted teeth.

"Now, if this…dragon, is as fast as you say he is then we'll probably be back tomorrow with dear old Ember." Icicle says to us, then smiles. "Oh, How rude of me; I never introduced myself. She takes my hand. Her hands are a little coldish. I'm surprised; I am expecting them to be very icy. I ask her about it.

"I can control the temperature of my body, for the most part. I be just a little chilly, or," she painfully tightens her grip. "Very Icy." My hand feels numb. I inward sigh in relief as she lets go.

I guess I always knew that answer. There were times when Ember would practically burn me to death when she touched me, but other times she was just warmer than most people.

I rub my hand trying to warm it back up as Icicle introduces herself to the others. Lastly she comes back to me to finish our interrupted introduction.

"I doubt you will give me the respect as my workers do, so you don't have to call me Ice Queen, Icicle will do." She locks her unnatural eyes with me and shakes my hand. "Hello, My name is Eve Smith…and if you ever call me that, I _will_ kill you."

**Sorry, I kind of rushed on this chapter, so it came out a bit jumbled…oh well, tell me what you think!**


	8. The Dancers and the Split

**I know it's been a really long time. But I just got back home from my vacation a few days ago and I've been having a very stressful week. Anyway, enjoy:**

It had been thirty six hours since Icicle left and we hadn't heard a word from her yet. Her Ice Dancers kept assuring us that she was probably in China by this point and they were currently working on freeing Ember. I was starting to worry. What if she stole Dojo or something horrible like that?

I tried not to think about it and enjoy myself as much as I could. The ice palace was huge and there were hundreds of workers to talk to. Plus, my friends were there. I wasn't totally alone but I kept thinking about Ember anyway and if she'd be okay. But I had to stop thinking about it. Even if Icicle did follow through with the plan it would be days before they were back.

The dancers were kind enough to prepare four rooms for each of us. Each room was located closely to the others. The rooms were _basically_ identical. Each was pretty small, with a large bed made out of ice. Yes. Ice. The bed, like everything else in the room, was ice. In fact, all the furniture was ice. There was a fake lamp carved out of ice. It didn't do anything though.

That's because the REAL light source in the room was long, skinny pole cutting through the ceiling and the floor right in the middle of the room. This is where the rooms differed; the poles were neon lit and each room had a different color. The blankets in each room matched that color. There were a lot of blankets in each room because it was SO cold. My room was the red one.

I spent the first day catching up on sleep and talking with my friends about the plan. But by the second day I decided to talk to one of the ice dancers. They were secretive, but at the same time seemed friendly.

We were all sitting at breakfast when I made my move. Breakfast was served in a huge cavern-like room with a gigantic table stretching nearly forty feet long. I noticed that the table had once been a normal wooden table, but Icicle had encased it in an ice shell which made it nearly double in size.

Surprisingly the ice table was incredibly functional. The top was slick and we could slide dishes to each other across the surface. It was a lot easier than picking up big dishes to pass them around. The only down side was that the chairs were made out of ice and they left a certain body part feeling numb after every meal…

Another down side was that Icicle absolutely hated anything hot so all the dishes were served cold. And things that were cooked were very rarely prepared. All we had was cold cereal…cold cuts…cold soup…raw fruits and veggies…cold drinks…cold…cold…cold!

But I ignored the chilly food and turned my attention to a tall girl sitting a few feet away from me.

"So…how long have you been working for Icicle?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Since she's been working here." The girl answered. She was dark-skinned, with long curly hair and big deep brown eyes. Her voice was rough sounding.

"Oh okay…um…how long is that?" I tried to keep the conversation going.

"Hmm…'bout four years. But I've worked for this organization LONG before that. I've been here since I was three, earlier than most. I'm eighteen now." She told me between bites of food. "By the way, my name is Terra."

"Oh right!" I smacked my forehead. "Sorry, I'm Raimundo. Okay…so Terra…uh…what was the organization like before Icicle took over?"

"The frost queen did not just 'take over'!" She shouted at me angrily. "This organization started over a hundred years ago…it was actually some sort of branch off the Ku Klux Klan…" She turned her attention down to her own chocolate-colored skin. "Obviously things have changed…Anyway, no one really knows when exactly, it's speculation that is happened during the sixties riots, but eventually the group stopped being crazy racists people and turned to thieving. It's been a crime group since then."

"Okay…that interesting. Um…what were things like when you joined?" I asked while taking a bite of cereal.

"Back in the eighties some guy took over and made the group total chaos. It was coed back then and you can only imagine what it was like in an organization of teenage boys and girls together. Crazy stuff went on, I swear. And the leader himself, Frank, was mixed up in all this drug crap. The only good thing that came from Frank was that when my parents abandoned me he took me in for some reason. I was just sort of assimilated into the group at a young age. Oh, and by the way, the group has moved all over. It started in Georgia, but during the Frank-era it was in Arizona."

"So when does Icicle play into all of this?" I noticed that every time I said Icicle all the other dancers would cringe. I was wondering if I should start calling her "Frost Queen" like everyone else did.

"Both the ice princess and that…sister of hers, Ember, was the name? They joined a few years back. They were traveling runaways that got mixed up with the group. A lot of people joined back then because Frank was very…public about things. He didn't try to hide the crimes, instead he'd show off. A lot of our members are also runaways who have gotten mixed up in bad things, or abused, ect. We really change our lives here." Terra beamed. Well yeah they changed their lives, but is it really for the better?

"But when did Ember and Ici- I mean – the 'frost queen' come into control?"

"I'm getting there!" She snapped. "They were these two young cute girls full of new ideas to help the group. Slowly they started building a fan base. And when they finally decided to challenge the leadership, they had several followers. Frank was estranged from the group…we like to joke that he was marooned. Anyway, that wasn't enough though. The two made like a bajillion changes, including making it girls only." I noticed several pairs of eyes starring at me, Clay, and Omi.

"Hey, what's wrong with boys?" I laughed nervously.

"Nothing." One of the girls said. "Boys…are cool I guess. We're not like extreme feminist or anything, we've just never had all these boys around the base…it's weird."

"Are we the first boys to be here, ever?"

She shook her head. "No, but you're the first _group_ of boys. We've had individuals before, visiting theirs sisters or something like that. Sometimes the queen invites over people for meetings and stuff…but you guys are the first group…albeit, a small one." She seemed bitter. I definitely gotten the feelings we weren't welcomed here.

"Well, back to the story." Terra said after a silence fell and the other girls finally stopped starring at us. "They kicked out all the guys, established some rules to the group, and a system of ranking. We started pulling off all sorts of job. And this time we weren't caught. They also re-named the group…the uh…" Terra shuddered. "It's sort of embarrassing…they named the group 'the princesses'."

"The princesses?" I tried to stifle my laughter.

"Yeah…our leaders were the fire princess and the ice princess. Some of us 'oldies' still refer to her the ice princess, but after Ember left the group she said she would rather be the queen…" Terra suddenly fell very silent. This was obviously an awkward subject.

"Why did Ember leave the group?" I asked tentatively.

"No!" A small girl yelled as Terra opened her mouth. She had a squeaky voice. "We're not supposed to talk about that! Rule three hundred sixty-two; don't talk about the separation of the leaders!" She recited. "And you've already broken rule four hundred nine; don't mention the name of a certain twin sister when in the presence of the queen!"

"Amy, I didn't break that rule. _We're not in her presence_." Terra told her condescendingly. "Gosh, you have SO much to learn! Where is your mentor anyway?"

"She was sick, and it's her day off today, anyway." Amy answered and Terra mumbled something angrily. I heard the word 'lazy' slip in.

Finally she turned back to me. "There isn't much to tell anyway. We don't even know what happened. They just started fighting all the time a few months before she left. One day she just got frustrated and stormed out…by which point we were located in Texas, near the town the lived in as children. After the fire princess left we became purely ice themed and moved here." She finished. "And that's that."

"We have a lot of theories though." A girl said from somewhere on the other side of the table. I couldn't see her very well. "Lots of theories about the split are just circulating around. They're all rumors though."

"I see…" I turned my gaze up. There was another neon light pole on the ceiling, only it was stretched horizontality "You guys obviously have power but…I mean…" I suddenly started to feel stupid. "I haven't seen any electrical sockets so…where are you getting your power?"

"Hydraulic power. That's powered by water for those of you who don't know." A girl with dirty blond hair answered. "There's a room, forbidden from outsiders, by the way, that contains a gigantic water wheel. The ice Queen planted a bunch of super thin icicles hanging over it. Even though it's cold, the icicles are constantly melting because they're designed in a way that makes them do that. I've only seen the machine once, but basically the dripping water keeps the wheel turning which builds up electricity. It's almost completely self sufficient; the queen just has to plant new crystals every month or so." She explained very matter-of-factly.

"Oh that's cool. So…what else has-" I start to ask another question but then Icicle's assistant, Bethany, came running into the room screaming with joy.

"The queen called! Everything went smoothly! They're leaving as soon as they can!" She yells happily. The girl is clearly devoted. "Everyone, quickly, make the necessary preparations; our queen is coming home!"

**Hmm…don't really like how this came out. Oh well. Anyway, there are only about three chapters left and I am hoping to finish them next week(I'm busy this weekend). As I said, this is a very short story.**

**Well, review please! I need (Okay, want) to know what you think!**


	9. Fire, Ice, and the Talk

**I didn't keep you waiting for nothing, enjoy this very long chapter:**

Though we had gotten the notice on Friday evening, it was three days before we heard from Icicle again. I had gone back to my downward worrying spiral, but when we received her call it quickly died down.

We were eating dinner when Bethany's radio went off.

"Bethany?" We heard Icicle call on the other end. "Bethany?" She shouted a little louder.

"Yes, my queen?" Bethany had jumped when the radio went off, dropped her fork and fumbled around with the device instantly. She was quite the spastic little devoted freak.

"We're going to be home soon…we were having some traveling difficulties with the animal."

"THE ANIMAL?" We heard another voice from the radio shout. I instantly recognized it as Dojo's. "I've never been so insulted!"

"Shut up, you!"

"Ow! She's trying to freeze me to death!"

"Um…Ice Queen, what kind of traveling troubles?" Bethany asked calmly.

"Oh, he just keeps insisting that we stop."

"Of course I keep insisted that we stop; you haven't fed me in two days! I've flown across the world, back, and back again in the same week! Is a little food to much to ask for?"

"I SAID SHUT UP DRAGON!"

I tuned out the rest of the conversation to seek out my friends, who were already done with their food. I told them that Ember was almost here and we further discussed our plan.

--

Five hours later, however, Icicle STILL wasn't back and many of the dancers were sick of waiting for her. They all eventually agreed, though some rather reluctantly, that their best option would be to go to bed and greet her in the morning.

I had just about drifted off into dream world when I heard voices outside my door.

"Stop stepping on my feet!" The first voice hissed. It sounded like Icicle…

"Maybe I wouldn't step on them if they weren't so gigantic!" I instantly recognized the speaker to be Ember. My heart jumped. I rolled out of bed, pulled some clothes on and rushed outside, and sure enough they were both standing there. Icicle looked the same, except she was carrying Ember's old big black bag. But as for Ember…

I actually gasped when I saw Ember; she was looking much better than she had at the prison. Her hair had been cut to a length so that all the faded highlights were gone, but her hair was still reasonably long. It also, finally, looked like it had been brushed and properly groomed for.

Needless to say, she was out of her prison jumpsuit, but I was shocked that she wasn't wearing her old flaming clothing. Instead, she had on a pale pink T-shirt and camouflage pants. She also had on small black leather gloves. She almost didn't look like herself anymore, but her face was still the same. The face that just radiated fiery attitude.

"Ember!" I couldn't stop myself as I embraced her warmly.

"Oh…hi, Rai." She said slowly as I pulled away. She looked down at her feet. She seemed very different, like prison had really changed her. "Thanks for you know…orchestrating this whole thing…um…Icicle told me about the deal and everything. She said you also had a plan to turn me…uh…'good' is that right? I mean, I don't think it's possible but I'll go along with anything that gets me free…"

"Yeah we…wait a minute." I faced Icicle with disgust. "How did you know that?"

She smiled widely and gave a little laugh. "Do you honestly think I _don't_ know _every_ word muttered, whispered, and secretly exchanged in _my_ home?"

"Well when you say it that way…" I sighed. It didn't matter than Icicle knew the plan, it was just insulting to know that she was always one step ahead. There was no foolin' the little she-devil.

"Ember, I have a question for you…I want to ask it now before I forget it…Um, when I visited you at the prison…you told me to go bother Stacy. So…um, who the heck is Stacy?"

Ember made a confused face. "Well gee…I don't remember anything about a 'Stacy' when you visited me..._I don't remember much after with what they did_…" She looked down sheepishly. "Speaking of the prison…hello mister hallucination…"

"Oh yeah…that…I remember that too…" I was starting to wonder about Ember. She seemed fine right now, but how could she just drop all that…crazyness like that? "Well, um, do you know anyone named Stacy?"

"The only Stacy I can think of is my childhood teddy bear. I named it Stacy."

"Um, excuse me," Icicle cut in. "Stacy-bear was _my_ bear."

"Oh really, Eve?" Icicle cringed at her name. "Then why did I sleep with it every night?"

"Because, _Mary_," Icicle stressed the name loudly, "you had a habit of stealing my stuff. You thought Stacy bear was yours, but it was mine and you just liked to steal her all the time. You really have always been a thief."

"As if you haven't been!" Ember nearly shouted. I worried they would wake someone up. "And for the umpteenth time…my name is _not_ Mary."

"And mine is not Eve." Icicle got up in Ember's face.

"Well you're certainly no queen, if that's the name you're implying." Ember seethed.

Next thing I knew, in the blink of an eye, Icicle was attempting to stab Ember with two giant ice shards she had just formed. But with a quick flame, Ember had melted both shards into two little pools of water. I really hope they weren't always this aggressive with each other…

"How many times do I have to tell you that fire will _always_ beat ice?" Ember asked cockily.

"Until it's actually true." Icicle sneered.

Ember smiled. "Well it's gonna be true. I learned a new trick in prison. I can now send heat waves through objects up to fifteen feet away." She bragged. "I could melt this entire place in ten minutes. Wanna see?"

"No I don't want to see!" Icicle snapped. "Fine, I'll call you Ember and you'll call me Icicle and we'll call it even. I'm not calling you the phoenix, and I hardly think you wish to call me the queen." She paused. "And that heat trick is no big deal. I've been doing that with cold waves for months."

"No you haven't." Ember said quickly.

Icicle raised an eyebrow. "Really? Disregarding your accusation for the moment, on what evidence are you basing this claim off of? What possibly made you think I am lying when I am not?"

"Your nose twitched." Ember said simply.

"What?"

"I know you Ice, and I know that your nose always twitches when you lie." Icicle made a stern face. I stared at her as she spoke.

"It does not _always_ twitch." Her nose didn't move once. "But fine, I was lying. I haven't been doing it for months, I just learned that move three weeks ago."

Ember smiled. "I learned first. I win." She said tauntingly.

"You win nothing! Who was the one who just spent the majority of the year locked in a prison with no escape, going completely utterly mad? Who is the one who just had to be rescued by her sister and now has to do everything she says while living in her home?"

Icicle had hit a nerve. Ember didn't say anything, she merely glared.

"That's what I thought."

"Um, if I could interrupt, where is Dojo?" I asked.

"Oh Dojo!" Icicle practically squealed. "Such a lovely creature...the way he flies, effortlessly, and so fast, the attitude is a bit of a problem, but…" Her eyes sparkled. "Just think, if I had a creature like that in my arsenal of weapons…"

"Hey! Dojo wasn't part of this deal; you can't have him."

Icicle swore under her breath. "You're right about that…and there is honor among thieves, so fine, I can't have the dragon. Next time I make a deal with you guys I won't let something like that slip." I seriously doubted we would ever make another deal with her.

"Well anyway, where is he?" I asked yet again.

"He said he wanted to be with Clay, so we took him into his room." Icicle finally answered.

"Yeah, and Icicle kissed his forehead while he was asleep." Ember giggled. "I see someone still has a thing for Texas-boys."

"Oh shut up, you like them just as much."

"I do not!" Ember seemed slightly offended. "I used to, but," she turned to me and winked flirtatiously, "I like Brazilian men now."

"As if Raimundo is a full grown man." Icicle snapped. Ouch…that kind of stung. "You teenagers are so frivolously stupid." Once again Icicle was acting like she was years above us.

"Well, I am a bit tired, so I'll probably be going to bed soon, Raimundo, why don't you tell Ember about the rules here." Icicle said and turned to Ember. "You also have additional rules; No fires, no heat waves, no melting things, no breaking anything, no snooping, no touching what isn't yours, in fact, don't touch anything that you don't have to…hmm, that's enough for now." Before Icicle left she had given us a list rules about living here. Most of them were about not harming the ice cavern. She kept referring to it as her 'baby' and that she'd kill any of us if we damaged anything.

"It takes me four months to carve these chandeliers, if any of them break, I swear…"

"Maintaining this place is a full time job, I have to re-freeze everything every month or so, if you knock down any walls you will so regret it…"

"It took my years to furnish this place, if you so much as chip any of the chairs or tables I'll…I don't even know what I'll do I'll be so furious!"

Her many warning were still ringing through my head.

"Okay, Ember, I'll explain the rules later, I have a quick question for Icicle." I told them.

"Well what is it?"

"How did you come up with the idea for this place?"

"There is hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden that is completely built out of ice. It has eighty five rooms made out of ice. When the roof starts to melt, they close down, and the whole thing drains into the river. They have to build it up again every year. It was my inspiration for this place, but my house stays up all year." Icicle explained with a smile on her face. It was actually a genuine smile, not a cocky smile or a smirk. I wasn't sure until this point that she even could smile normally.

"Have you ever been to the hotel?" I asked her, trying to get a conversation going.

"No." She sighed sadly. "With airplane travel the way it is now…and, not to mention that I don't have a passport and I'm wanted in thirty five states, I don't think I'll be visiting anytime soon. It's my dream to go there one day though."

"I'm wanted in all fifty states!" Ember said braggingly.

"Ember! Do you always to have to one up me?"

"Whenever I get the chance, yes."

There was a silence after that as the two engaged in a silent starring contest.

"So Um…Ember," I said slowly. "What happened to your old clothes?"

"Ugh…confiscated." She said bitterly. "They took away all my items and gave them back to those I stole them from. But it doesn't matter about the clothes. The lady who made it still lives in the same place, and I bet she keeps her bank safety deposit box in the same place as last time. I'll just steal it back when I get the chance." She looked to her bag, dangling from Icicle's grasp, and pointed at it. "Whatever they decided to let me keep is in there, and the bag was locked up. Ice here ever so _thoughtfully_ retrieved it for me…but she won't let me look in until I declare her the queen of ice."

"Well, then why don't you? Don't you wanna know what they let you keep?" I asked.

"Well of course I want to know! But my pride is stronger than my curiosity." She then snickered. "Besides, I'll just take a peak when she falls asleep."

"Oh no, you won't."

"Really? How will you stop me?" Icicle ignored her comment. She probably figured Ember wouldn't ever get the chance to look in it.

"Ahem, back to the bag, Rai, I guess you guys are enjoying the shen gong wu, huh?" Ember asked.

"What?" I said confused.

She gasped. "Those bastards! Jim said they were returning all the shen gong wu back your temple! Those bastards! I bet they're keeping it all for themselves!" I had almost forgotten that Ember had stolen all of our wu. Since then a lot more had activated, so we weren't with out wu anymore. Still, it hurt to know that the police were hording them somewhere.

"That just ain't right…hey, Ice, do you have a TV?" Ember asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, but it's small, black and white, doesn't work very well, and only gets three American news channels, and fifteen news channels from other countries. I can't exactly get a newspaper subscription here, so it's my only way of knowing what's happening in the world."

"Aw dang…"

"Let me guess," Icicle began condescendingly, "You are completely obsessed with the idea that half the world is looking for you and your face will be all over the TV news reports, am I right?"

"Actually I just wanted to watch cartoons." Ember said simply. "But you bring up a good point! Wow…I bet I'll be on every single newspaper…oh my gosh…we're talking breaking news reports…oh this cool!"

"There's nothing cool about it." Icicle huffed. "You're going to get all the credit when my dancers and I did all the work…"

"I thought you always left a 'calling card' when you pulled off a job to brag about it?" Ember said confused.

"We do…but _someone_ here blew it up when she was screaming obscenities and throwing fire everywhere in a desperate attempt to get away, when she was indeed actually being saved." Icicle scowled.

"Oh yeah…"

"Um, about that, Ember, can we talk…you know, alone?" I turned to Icicle.

"You still have to follow my rules here, Rai, and I demand you let me stay for this conversation. It seems interesting." She smirked. I really hate that smirk.

I sighed. "All right then…um…Ember…you…I don't know to say this, so I'll just let it all out. When I saw you in China you were as crazy and insane as they get. Jim even said you should have been in the mental ward. But now…you're standing here…completely normal again…I mean, what happened? I am really confused here!"

Ember sighed several times before speaking quietly, in a tone that showed none of her usual cockiness. "I knew you would ask that, and I also know that my answer won't satisfy you, but…it's all I have."

"My first few days in prison are a daze," She began. "When I wasn't angrily lashing out at every around me, I was huddled up in the fetal position crying over my failure. I was a wreck, but I knew what was happening…but everything changed after I got my initial sentence."

"I…was moved to a different location, and I heard some of my guards talking…talking about illegal experiments with chemicals…"

"What?" I interrupted.

"I know! It doesn't make much sense. At first I thought they were talking about my father…you know, because, he used the chemical on us and then…you know now we have the curse and gift of powers and everything, but I soon realized they weren't talking about my dad. Some of the guards, had this idea that if they gave me some new drug I would be 'cured' of my powers and 'evil desires'."

"That's insane." I interrupted again.

"I know!" She shouted. Then lowered her voice again. "I thought it was silly too, but then…after a few days, there was this weird smell in my room. Like alcohol mixed with cleaning fluid mixed with…I don't know. But there was always this weird smell, and I knew that the guards prepared my food. I started realizing that the smell was coming from the food."

"Ember I-"

"I know its absurd Rai, but if you love me like you say you do, then you know you can trust me on this. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but it's the only explanation I can offer. Anyway…the food was always making me feel funny. It was like I couldn't control my thoughts, or my brain. I'd make these spastic movements I couldn't control. Jim thought I was having a seizure one day and called a doctor in…that was fun." She said sarcastically. "I tried burning my food…trying to burn off the chemicals…I don't know if it worked or not…I guess it didn't, because I was always getting worse and worse. At random times I would just feel this unbearable pain all over, like I was being tortured…I was being tortured, by those guards. They were poising me. Their intentions may have been good at first, but not after they saw the affects…they enjoyed letting me suffer, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I tried telling them to stop but they didn't listen to me. I tried telling Jim about them but he thought I was just being crazy. There were worse side affects to, but I don't really want to talk about them…"

"Okay Ember…but…they were policemen. Why would they do something so horrible like that?"

"Policemen are the most corrupt people there are Raimundo." Ember said coldly.

"I hate to cut in, but…I actually have to agree with Ember on this one. The police are just as bad, if not worse, than we are, Raimundo." Icicle said, and the sisters exchanged a glance.

"Well, Rai, do you believe me?" Ember asked. I stared into her eyes. I couldn't see a trace of a liar in her eyes, but Ember knew how to lie to anyone. I thought I saw small tears well up in the corners.

Thinking about her words, I answered. "It doesn't make much sense to me either but…this is difficult, but I believe you."

"If it helps Rai, I believe her too. She was still a little crazy after we first rescued her, but after a few days on regular food she starting being normal again."

"Yeah, that was when I told Icicle about the chemicals, so she's already heard this story." Ember paused. "She also thinks I'm going to die."

"What? Why?" I had already feared about loosing Ember enough, I didn't need that worry coming back.

"Because, we already have enough chemicals in our bodies, I mean, hello, powers!" Icicle said waving her hands in my face as small ice crystals dropped from them. "I think Ember has to much crap in her body now…I just have a feeling she might explode."

"Well I don't. Obviously, my body is used to chemicals that shouldn't be here…thank you Dad." Ember scowled.

"Well, I don't think our powers will last forever." Icicle said.

"Oh, here you go with your theory again…"

"I believe," Icicle said, ignoring her twin. "That one day our powers will desert us when the chemicals finally work through our bodies. By which point, I'll be old and not so nimble and agile anymore. I will then retire and make a fortune selling my inventions and live a life of quiet luxury."

"I disagree. These chemicals, which we don't know anything about, I might add, have been in our bodies for seven years. Who's to say they can't last another seven? We've continued to have our powers, and on top of that, they've changed, becoming stronger with us and changing into different forms. That's my theory." Ember said.

"That wasn't a theory Ember that was an observation." Icicle corrected her.

"Oh shut it."

There was another silence.

"Speaking of your inventions…" I said slowly. "You said you built them, but didn't you guys drop out of school in third grade? How can you be so smart?" I didn't like calling Icicle smart, but she seemed to be nicer the more compliments she received.

"I have a tutor that comes in every two weeks. He's a college professor, and he teaches me everything I need to know. I suppose you could say I'm college level as far intelligence goes."

"But…if he knows where you live, and surely he knows you're a criminal, why doesn't he report you? I mean, wouldn't he get a large sum of money for turning you in?"

"Not as large a sum he would get for keeping my location secret. As I've told you, Raimundo, money talks in this world. I keep Professor James well paid."

"That reminds me, Ice," Ember cut in. "Are you still doing that Vera Claythorne thing?"

"No, I quit that a while back, a fan was becoming suspicious. I paid her off to keep quiet, of course, but I didn't think it was worth risking for a while."

"Um…what?" Now I was confused. "That names sounds familiar…"

"Well if you're a fan of literature, it should. Vera Claythrone is my favorite character in my favorite book; "And Then There Were None" by Agitha Christie. I took the name as an alias, and hired a photographer and make-up artists. Using their talents I've made a small fortune modeling for some major magazine companies."

"What?" My jaw dropped from the absurdity of her explanation.

"I've always been intrigued by the fashion industry, so I was a part time model for a while."

"But…but…why didn't anyone recognize you?"

"She was a very talented make-up artist." Icicle said simply. "And of course, both were well paid, as always, to keep my little secrets. Now, I am very tired and I am going to bed. And I don't want you two talking with out me, so I command you two to go bed and not to talk. And if you don't obey, I'll force you out into the cold and call the authorities, I'm sure they'd love to have you back." She smiled viciously.

"If we didn't have this stupid deal…" Ember started muttering under her breath angrily, but I couldn't make out any more words. "Fine, Good night." She said to Icicle then grabbed my arm and pulled me back into my bedroom. It was completely dark inside, and I couldn't see her at all.

"I hope you still want to be with me…" She whispered.

"Of course"

"Good, because I really don't like sleeping alone." I laughed, my mind finally filling with the happy memories we shared together.

"I still love you Ember, I hope you know that."

"After all you've done for me…I don't deserve you Rai, but I love you, too, and…you sure you want to be with me?"

Reaching through the dark, I found her face. Bringing it closer, I kissed her gently.

"Yes, I'm sure."

**(Big sigh of relief) I really hope you all enjoyed that, it took forever to write…well I hope you all like that and I look forward to your reviews. Oh, and on a side note; The hotel, the Agitha Christie book, and all that stuff is completely true; they're all real things, I didn't make any of it up. Anyway, it's an awesome book and you guys should read it. (Note: It also has a different title in some places, that title being: "Ten Little Indians.") REVIEW PLEASE!**


	10. The Box

**Another long chapter…oh well, enjoy:**

Two days later Icicle's demands were pushing us to the breaking point. We couldn't have a private conversation anywhere, and she generally enjoyed watching making us squirm. When she was bored, which seemed about every two minutes, she would order one of us to do something entertaining, and we'd have to put on some little show. These shows included everything from doing a silly dance to Clay having to serenade Icicle with a love song.

My friends and I had spoken with Ember about the plan. We explained how the deal would work and she greatly expressed her doubts in it. But regardless of her feelings, she agreed to it saying once again "Anything that frees me is okay." She added that she didn't think she could forever be cured of her 'thieving impulses, urges, and desires' but that she would at least try, for a while, trying to lay low and live a normal life after we left Alaska.

Even though Ember agreed to the plan she said she didn't want to start the "goodness lessons" until she was settled in. None of us were really sure what she had to do to settle, after all she didn't have any clothes or items with her, but we decided to give her a few days anyway.

It was early in the morning and I was making my way to breakfast when I saw a pale hand gesture me over from behind an ice pillar. Seriously. Here I am walking and I see this hand come out and beckon me towards it. I knew it couldn't be an Ice Dancer because they were always extremely quiet and practically invisible. And I knew it wasn't Icicle because when she summoned one of us she did it loudly, not in secret. And since there wasn't anyone else here in this ice cavern that I disliked, I made my way to the pillar, assuming it was Kimiko or someone.

"Psst! Rai! Come here!" I heard Ember hiss from behind the pillar as I approached. I rounded the corner and finally saw her.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Shh! Not so loud!" She whispered frantically.

"Why not?" I said quietly.

"Shh! Just shut up for a second and follow me!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me several feet away. Ember had either gotten better at controlling her temperature, or I was just always a little cold from the cavern, but either way she never seemed to burn me anymore when we touched. It was more a pleasant warm feeling then a burning pain.

"What is it? Why can't I talk?" I asked as she pulled me into a corner.

"Shh…okay, I found a room that I wanted you to check out with me. But, I don't want to be followed there." She explained in her lowest voice.

"I don't follow."

"Look…you know how I can turn into a flame?" I nodded and she continued. "Well, Eve can turn into a solid ice column. I've seen her do it; these columns are completely undistinguishable from the other ice pillars here, she made them that way on purpose; that's how she spies on people."

"So she could be anywhere?" I said, suppressing a gasp.

"Exactly. That's why we have to be quiet. Anyway, this is the room I wanted to show you…we can talk in there." She said and walked into a door way three feet away. The room was small and simple like the others. There was a huge thick curtain, carelessly thrown on the floor and a very dim light pole cutting through the room. Near the back of the room, starting at the floor, was a four foot high, gigantic ice block thing. That's really the only way I can describe it.

Approaching the ice I looked closely and saw a large wooden chest buried beneath the many ice layers.

"I found this room last night, I kind of got lost. Whatever's in that chest has to be something Icicle doesn't want us to see. The entire thing has been iced over, and this curtain was nailed to the door way." Ember told me walking over to the box.

"Nailed with what?" I said. I didn't see any metal nails around.

"Ice nails, of course. She wouldn't use anything but them." She said. I then noticed that there were small ice fragments littering the opening of the door.

"So, we're here to…snoop on your sister?"

"Exactly…you got a problem with that?" She snapped.

"Well…not really, no, but…still…"

"Oh, don't act all good, cabinet-boy."

"I didn't really look in your cabinet." I defended myself as she reminded me of the time I went through her bathroom cabinet. "Your girl stuff freaked me out so I only got a peek at what was inside."

"Whatever."

"Being serious though, Ember, what if we're caught?"

"We won't be, she hasn't been in this room in ages, I can tell, and everyone's at breakfast anyway." She said confidently. "You know, last night I tried to look into my bag?"

"Yeah? What happened?"

"Well, so I get into her room, right? I find my bag and open it up; nothing. I figured as much that it would be empty but I had to check, you know? But I didn't really care, 'cause I love that bag and I can still use it. As I'm leaving I notice this really funny looking icicle hanging from the ceiling."

"What was so funny about it?" I interjected, confused.

"The fact that it was there! All of the bedrooms in this place have _smooth_ walls."

"Yeah, you're right! They've all been iced down."

"Well apparently, not only can Ice' turn into a solid ice statue, she can also turn into an icicle. How fitting, considering her name. Anyway, so I watch as this icicle melts into a puddle on the floor right in front of my eyes in a matter of seconds. Then the pool shoots up into the air and reforms as Icicle!"

"Seriously? Then what happened?" I asked excited; I had to admit, Ember was a very good story teller.

"Um, she told me if she ever caught me snooping again she would personally turn me in to the police."

"Oh…" I started feeling nervous. What if she caught us now?"

"I told her that was an empty threat 'cause if she did that then she would just be thrown into a cell next to me, but she didn't seem very amused by that…Anyway, enough stories! Let's bust this thing open!" Ember said turning her attention to the big block of ice.

"Okay…um…how?"

"I'll melt it if course! Ember said, putting her hands to the chest. Her hands just barely glowed a pale red color as she very slowly began melting a hole through the ice. "Ugh…this could take a few minutes…what should we talk about?"

"Um…I don't know…Hey, didn't your birthday pass while you were in jail?"

"Yep. I'm fifteen now."

"Yeah, me too…happy birthday… So, did you get anything special for your birthday?" I asked, hoping it wasn't as dumb a question as it sounded.

"In jail? Are you serious? Well…I didn't drop the soap during shower time. I guess that was good."

I widened my eyes in shock. "So…so…stuff like that actually happens in prison? It's not like…an urban myth…? Ember!"

She started laughing hysterically. "Nah, I don't know what really happens; I didn't get to shower with everyone else 'cause the shower heads are made of metal. I had my own special shower in my cell. My little cell which I never got to leave except for one time when we had 'social day.'"

"What's social day?"

"For the other inmates, their friends get to come and hang out with them for a few hours. For floor sixers, that's what we called ourselves, we all got to meet at a table and discuss our uniqueness and superiority. We floor sixers take pride in our floor sixness."

"Do you now? So what were the other 'floor sixers' like? There's four of you right?"

"Yeah. Two boys and a girl, plus me. The boy was very nervous and jumpy. All I know about him as that his name was Brian, he started using drugs when he was ten, and that he is apparently very nervous. He was really, really jumpy all the time and kept muttering 'blood' at random moments. He seemed to have a thing about blood. As for his crime? His parents used to abuse him, so one day he just killed them. But he didn't want to stop there, so he apparently just went on these crazy rages and killed all his school bullies and a crap load of other people."

"Well that's just great." I said sarcastically.

"I didn't really talk to him…he didn't really talk. But the other pair there? The twins? They were cool."

"What were they like?"

"They worked together as a team and did just about every crime in the book. They murdered some relatives of their, robbed a dozen homes, created their own drug distributing network, posed as doctors at a hospital, forged checks, ect ect. Anything illegal, you name it, and they've done it. They escaped capture several times, too."

"Why did they do all that?"

"I don't really know…they said that they both had the dream to be the greatest criminals ever. Guess that won't happen anymore…Oh! They told me though that they had followed me whole crime career, and that they thought I was awesome, and that they were very sad when they learned I was caught, but excited to meet me." Ember said. "I'm nearly done with this ice shelf now, by the way."

"You sure met a lot of great people in prison…"

"Hey don't mock the floor sixers! We're awesome, okay?"

"All right, you're awesome. All hail floor six." I lied. I wasn't really okay with it. It really bothered me that she really seemed to like these people. She was practically a saint compared to them. "So…the boy and girl, were twins, eh? I guess crime runs in twins." I joked weakly.

Ember chuckled. "I guess that has to do with the fact that when we work together, we can be a very destructive force. There! Done! Now, let's see what's in here."

I glanced down and noticed that Ember had made a very sizeable hole in the ice. Carefully she lifted out the chest and kicked the latch open. As the lid fell into place we saw that the entire chest was filled to the brim with letters. Some were stuck back in unopened envelopes, but most were simply pieces of paper folded over.

"Dang…what did she do? Keep every letter ever given to her?" Ember commented then looked at the top part of the chest. "Something's engraved there, but I can't see with all the dust. Rai, blow the dust off." She instructed.

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because there's a good chance it'll combust if I do."

"Oh. Right." I leaned in and blew the dust off, but there was still a thick layer left, so I just wiped it away with my sleeve. Written on the chest, in fancy script lettering, were the words:

_Eve Smith's Keepsake box_

"Oh!" Ember exclaimed. "I remember these! I had one to, we got them for our seventh birthday." She paused and then muttered to herself, "Just where is that thing…"

"So…what are we gonna do with this stuff?" I asked.

"Um…well, you can pick a letter and start reading. I'm digging around for more interesting stuff." She said while plunging her hands deeper. Though I may have helped to break into the chest, I started having this uneasy feeling about reading any of the letters. I guess my conscious finally sunk in, and it just seemed like going to far. After all, what had Icicle ever done to me? Well, I mean, aside from making me do a ridiculous dance and stuff, she had never actually violated my privacy. At least, I couldn't recall of her doing so…

"Ooh, I feel something!" Ember exclaimed, breaking my train of thought. She then pulled out a small mirror with an embellished red wood handle. "Oh my God!" She gasped when she looked at it.

"What?"

"That bitch! That little bitch!"

"Who?"

"Who do you think?" She snapped.

"Icicle?"

"Duh."

"What's the big deal with that mirror?"

"This was my mother's mirror. Ugh! I can't believe her!" Ember continued with another chorus of 'that bitch'. "She's always done this! Ever since mom died she just horded all her stuff! And now I find this!"

"What's so great about the mirror?"

"It was mine! Me and Miss-Frost-Bitch split up my mothers stuff after she died, and this mirror was one of the things I was keeping… She flippen stole it. She went to our old freaken house and freaken stole it after I was caught! I know she did, the little devil!"

"Well…how can you be sure she didn't just find another mirror like it?"

"Why are you defending her?" Ember yelled angrily getting in my face.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that…well, I don't really know what I'm saying, but babe, you need to calm down. Someone might hear us."

"You…!" She paused and her face dropped. "…have a point. Fine. I'll be more quiet. But anyway, Raimundo, I know she stole it from the house because it was there nine months ago when we were on the run….or wait, has it been ten months now?"

"I don't know I lost track of time."

"Hmm." Ember turned her gaze to the mirror and studied her reflection. She pushed a small lock of hair behind her ear. "I think I'm gonna stay a natural blonde for a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think I like it this length. I mean, I love it as the fire but it's to much work to keep dying it…Besides, it's still one of the colors of fire, technically." She paused and put the mirror down on the ice floor. "Do you like it this way?"

"Yeah, it looks great."

"Which look do you like more?"

"Uh…Ember, what does it really matter? I guess it like it both ways. I'm more used to the fire, but it's your hair, so do what you want."

"Yeah." She said and repeated again. "Yeah, I'm gonna keep it this way for a while. Maybe forever." She looked back to the mirror and then stuffed into one of her pockets. "I'm keeping this."

"Won't Icicle notice?"

"Rai, you saw the dust pile, she hasn't been in here in ages. Come on, let's look for more stuff! I may have several family heirlooms in here…"

After learning that Icicle stole from Ember it didn't seem so bad to snoop anymore so I buried my hands to the bottom of the chest. Feeling something big and heavy, I lifted the object out slowly. It was a photo album titled "My Friends."

"I remember when she got that." Ember said glancing at it. "I don't think she ever used it though; probably empty." I flipped through the book. It was empty except for the first two pages.

"Whoa!" Ember exclaimed. "Get out!" She grabbed the book away and looked at a picture of a black-haired girl riding a bike next to a much younger looking Icicle.

"What?"

Ember started laughing. "I can't believe she still has a picture of Patricia Oreczo."

"Who's that?"

"You ever notice how Ice's nose is a little crooked looking?"

"Yeah, I guess it is a tiny bit."

"Well, she used to be best friends with Patricia. They had one of those 'opposite attracts' friendships; they were always debating stuff but even though they had their different opinions they were always civil to one another."

"Okay, go on."

"Well one day they actually got into a huge argument…I think it was about politics. It drives me crazy that people get so worked up over politics; it's really stupid if you think about it… Anyway, Patricia got so mad she _punched_ her and broke her nose in three places. They stopped talking to each other after that, and Icicle's nose never healed quite correctly."

"That's kind of sad." I said but I was suppressing a snicker. All of sudden we heard Icicle's chilly voice calling from the distance.

"Ember you better not be in my room again!"

"Oh crap…we should leave." Ember said getting up and heading for the door.

"What about the mess?" I asked; papers still littered the floor.

Ember paused, then smiled wide and answered "She'll probably just think it was one of her workers! The little paranoid freak!" She laughed and we quickly fled the room, leaving the contents of the chest where they lie.

**Remember; just one chapter left. So get to that reviewing if you haven't already!**


	11. A New Life

**Wow, this turned out a lot longer than I thought it would…:**

We were now approaching week number four of our stay at in Alaska. Kimiko had tried to contact Master Fung and our families, but none of her electronics would work. However, the Ice Dancer's equipment was always working; whether it was accessing the internet, making a call, or just plain old turning on, it just worked. We had asked them how they always got their stuff to work but apparently it was some big secret and they'd always say they couldn't tell us. Half of them would actually say they didn't know how it worked and that the "Ice Queen" had done something to fix it so that our stuff wouldn't work. She wanted to keep us closely monitored.

We had begun Ember's "Good Training" and so for things were going mostly well. She knew what she had to say to please us, but I doubt she was making real progress. But who am I to judge? Maybe she really was having a change of heart.

At first we tried to shoo away Icicle and her dancers during the lessons but we learned to ignore them. The dancers were quiet enough, and Icicle really seemed to enjoy watching Ember suffer through the lessons. In fact, Icicle was so entertained that she spent one evening carving an ice desk for Ember to work at it. Ember responded by creatively using her finger to melt parts of the ice, so that indented in the upper right corner it read:

_Property of the_

_Phoenix_

But Icicle was well behaved enough that we no longer bothered trying to get her out of the room when it was lesson time.

However, that's not to say we enjoyed her company. Thanks to Ember's knowledge that Icicle enjoys _very_ long showers, we now had every day a forty-five minute time period where we could freely talk without fear of being listened to. These daily talking sessions were mostly a time to complain about all the things Icicle had forced us to do.

It was 6:32, which meant Icicle had just gotten in the shower. Time for fun!

"You know what she made me do today?" I began, sitting down on the very blanket-covered bed. We decided to hold our meetings in Clay's room; Some how there had been a building flaw in the design and Clay's room was slightly larger than the rest.

"What?" Ember asked.

"I was minding my own business, heading towards the bathroom because, well, I really had to go. Then she comes walking by and ask me where I'm going. So I told her. And you know what she said?" I asked, pausing for an effect. "She ordered me to stand there for twenty minutes, and if I moved a muscle she would call the police. She left after that but she said she would know if I moved before the twenty minutes were up. And you know, it's always just better to listen to her and put up with her crap, so I stood there like a statue for twenty minutes. My bladder nearly exploded."

"That's a lovely story, Rai." Kimiko said sarcastically.

"Why didn't you just move after she left?" Ember asked. "That's what I would've done."

"It isn't safe to disobey her." Omi answered for me. "She had me run around in a circle for half of an hour yesterday. I stopped running for a minute after she turned her back, and she nearly caught me. I only imagine it would be awful if she did."

"This morning at breakfast she kept starring at me and making this face. Her glaring was really bothering me so I politely asked her why she was starring." Kimiko began.

"What'd she say?"

"She said she didn't like me because my Xiaolin Element is fire."

"Ah, tough to be a wielder of fire, in' it?" Ember nudged her playfully. Ember and the other monks had finally made their peace with one another. Ember apologized for deceiving them, and said she was really committed to this 'goodness' thing. Anyway, point is, they had all pretty much forgiven each other and we were back to being friends. Not "I'll-die-for-you-best-friends" or anything, but good buddies at least. Pals. Whatever you want to call it.

"I guess so. She said she wouldn't even let any of us, but me and Ember particularly, stay here if we didn't have this stupid deal. Well…she didn't call it a stupid deal, that's my addition, but you get my point."

"That's nothing." Clay said quietly. "She made me kiss her."

"WHAT?" We all shouted.

"She just came up to me and demanded I do it. She used her favorite excuse of "I'll call the cops if you don't" and well…I just had no choice. Then she grabbed my face after I did it and tried to turn into some passionate romantic thing, while I just sort stood there all tight-lipped and nervous." He explained.

"Wow…that's awful." Omi said.

"Yeah, and I mean, really? Just what was she thinkin' anyway?" Ember asked. "Even if you have that much power over someone, and even if you have a big stinking crush on them, you don't force someone to kiss you. That's no way to win a man over." She paused, then scooted closer to me on the bed and leaned her head on my shoulder. "Clearly I inherited all the men-picking-up skills." She giggled.

Clay shuddered. "I can still feel her to. Her lips were so cold and watery…" He shuddered again. "I really hope she doesn't ask me to that again…or something worse."

"Whoa, don't jinks it, Clay." Kimiko warned. "You wouldn't want any of the Ice Dancers to hear you say that, she might start getting ideas."

"MmmHmm." A small silence followed. "So…anyone else have a tale to tell?" All eyes turned to Ember.

"Actually…" She said slowly. "Things have been a little better lately. I mean, we still can't stand each other, and we still argue over every little thing, and we still have to one p each other ever chance we get, but lately at night after everyone's gone to bed we stay up for a few hours just talking. Telling stories and stuff." She shrugged and sighed. "I guess that's just how sisters are. You can hate each others guts but there will always be that bond between the two and…ah, what can I say? She's family and for that I love her…yet still, I hate her. It's very complicated, siblings, isn't it?"

"Yup, I know the feeling." I said. And I did know it well; I had four sisters after all. And four brothers, as well. (A/N: Sorry, I know people don't like author's notes, but there have been debates about this, so I would just like to say that Raimundo did say in the episode "The Bird of Paradise" that he does have eight brother and sisters. I did, however, guess about which were girls and which were guys. Anyway, sorry for interrupting, back to the story.)

"Same here." Clay agreed.

"It's time like this when I really love being an only child." Kimiko smiled.

"I don't. I wish I had a brother or sister. I want siblings." Omi said sadly.

"Trust me, Omi, you wouldn't be saying that if you had them." Ember said matter-of-factly. The rest of the conversation was mostly sibling-horror-stories and that somehow turned into a two sided discussion between Ember and Clay about whether or not "True Texas Barbeque Ribs" had to be made from pigs that were raised in Texas. I zoned out for that part as we continued talking into the night…

-

The next day it was back to Ember's good lessons. And she seemed to being feeling particularly cynical today as she kept giving us a hard time. She had gotten Clay and I so successfully frustrated that we each took a break from teaching. Kimiko had stepped up to the plate and was giving her an oral quiz.

"Okay, question number six," Kimiko began. Ember was sitting at her desk, looking barely aware of what was going on. She seemed very bored. Icicle was watching her quietly from the floor a few feet away. "You're crossing a busy street when you see a fifty dollar bill on the street. What do you do? A, ask the person in front of you if it's there's. B, leave it on the street and keep walking. C, turn it over to the police. Or D, by toys and donate them to a children's charity."

"I pick option E." Ember answered with a smug smile.

"I only gave you four options…" Kimiko said with a confused look on her face. "Just what would option number five be?"

"E, I assume the bill is mine and pocket it." She explained and started laughing.

Kimiko sighed, annoyed. "I was looking for answer A, but C or D would have sufficed to. All right…question number seven; You see an elderly women being robbed. What do you do? A, jump into action and stop the mugger. B, call the police. Or C, walk on by because it's better to not get involved. What do you choose?"

"D; I burn the bastard."

"Ember!"

"What?"

"Why are you making a joke out of these lessons all of sudden?"

"Because you're questions are jokes." She raised her voice. It was never a good idea to mess with Ember's fiery temper.

"At least I'm trying!" Kimiko yelled, matching Ember with her own attitude. "I thought you said you wanted to be good?"

"I said that I would be willing to give up the thrill of crime if it meant I wouldn't have to be in the slammer again. I guess maybe I want to be 'good' but…ahh…come on, guys, you've felt it to. All of you helped free me, and you," She pointed at me, "Wind boy, you're the worst of you four, but I mean come on! That wonderful thrill you get from stealing…Ah! I love it!" She exclaimed.

"So you're not going to be a normal respectable member of society anymore?" Omi asked, seeming concerned.

Ember sighed. "No, I'll try…but I mean…what do you normal people do for excitement? I mean, like, what would I do with myself?"

"Not that I really want to back Ember up here, but you are asking a lot of her. We've been given a gift of powers-" Icicle began but Ember cut her off.

"You mean a curse." Ember huffed but Icicle continued over her.

"I mean, we've practically been _made_ to be stealing machines. I merely wish to point out that you expect my sister to make a complete lifestyle change _and_ hide her powers."

"We never said she had to hide her powers or cover them or up anything." I said, defending my friends.

"What would I do with them, though? I can't use them. If I'm gonna be hiding from the police my whole life I can't use them…it's like my trademark, you know? And I probably can't ever go to a hospital because they'd find some weird results from any test they give me…" Ember said glumly, then perked up suddenly. "All though I guess if I use them secretly it's no big deal. All right guys…I'll stop being a pain in the you-know-where. We can continue my pop quiz now."

Kimiko and Ember had gone through two more questions before Bethany barged into the room screaming. The girl had always looked like she had just had too much caffeine, but she was positively wild looking this time.

"FROST QUEEN! OH MY GOSH! ICE QUEEN! WE NEED TO TALK RIGHT NOW!"

"We can talk here, in normal voices." Icicle said coolly, not moving from her spot.

Bethany took several deep breathes then said calmly. "I'm not sure if you would want anyone else to hear this…"

"And why is that?"

"…I can't exactly say, Miss."

"Bethany, you're annoying me, spit it out."

"But what if I tell you and then you decide you didn't want these people to hear it…'cause I don't want you mad at me and-"

"BETHANY! If you don't tell me what it is right now, I swear to God I will freeze all your limbs off!"

"All right!" Bethany shouted again, her crazed look back. "Okay…all right, I will tell you; You know that job you assigned Carol and Diane?"

"About keeping in touch with the monks temple master, right? Fung was the name?" It was like someone had just stabbed my back. All this time we couldn't contact anyone we knew, and here was Icicle's henchmen regularly talking with Master Fung.

"Yeah, that's right…Um…well, they were just talking to him and well, we have a bit of a problem." Bethany said, her face contorting into ugly shapes with ever word. She was really fighting to stay calm.

"What kind of problem?" Icicle stood up.

"Well, um, he said that the police are getting suspicious that they haven't seen the monks around anywhere lately, and Jim Cadicci knows about Raimundo's past history and everything…and well, they started interrogating Fung-"

"What?" The four of us cried out in unison.

"Uh he didn't tell them anything but according to Fung…um, well, they sort of figured it out on their own…and well um…you see…"

"What is it, Beth?"

"Uhh…an entire FBI team and Jim are currently flying on a private government jet and are on their way to the decoy base, as we speak."

"WHAT?" This time all six of us yelled it.

"Ice Queen I don't know what to do!" Bethany was hysterical again. "We've got a satellite tracking them and their nearly here and I'm freaking out and I don't want to be caught!" She paused, ripped out an inhaler from her pocket and took a long puff. I didn't know she had asthma, but it wasn't too surprising to learn it. "I think we have to evacuate!"

Icicle screamed. No intelligible words, just a scream. It was pretty brief, but she was loud and frustrated.

"FINE!" She shouted. "Get all workers on base to depart, and notify all level three Dancers to use the snowmobiles," she paused and turned to us. "I made the snowmobiles, they're specially designed to be extra fast AND carry up to six people. Plus they-"

"Um, Miss Queen?" Bethany interrupted. "Um, no disrespect but…I don't think this is time to be bragging!"

"Oh, I beg to differ, it is ALWAYS time to brag…but, I do suppose you may be right; time is of the essence. Go notify the Dancers, now!" And with that Bethany had run off, shouting orders.

"Well what are we sitting around here for?" Kimiko asked. "We have to leave! Um…emergency Xiaolin Monk meeting. Guys?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should leave right now and fly back to China!"

"I agree!"

"Same here!"

"Me as well!"

"Okay let's go! Come on Dojo!" We all started running for the door, Ember was chasing after us.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Icicle screamed. She shoved her way past those in the back, and before we knew what was happening, she had built a thick ice wall, blocking the only exit. We were trapped.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at her.

"You cannot just leave! I didn't agree to this deal so you could just depart whenever you felt like it!" Icicle was now the one who was hysterical. "Oh no! You aren't going anywhere! This deal is not through until I say it is! I have big plans for you five! I fact, we're robbing a national bank next Friday!"

"You had this all planned out didn't you?"

"Of course I did! It was easy! It took nothing to shanghai you into this! And now you will be my loyal slaves, and together we will be an unstoppable organization! The Ice Dancers will be invincible!"

"Ice this is crazy!" Ember yelled at her sister. "These guys have a machine that tracks my heat waves; they'll know I'm in here and when they find me they'll arrest us all! If you keep us here you're only hurting yourself!"

Icicle started laughing. And evil, dry, sort of laugh. "Ah…but that's where you're wrong. So be it if I can't have you, you'll all get arrested when they come. But as for me…they can't arrest who they can't see." And with those words, she stiffened her body and we watched in horror as she transformed into a solid ice pillar, no different looking than the rest.

"No!" I yelled. "This can't be happening! We can't just wait here until the cops show up, we have to do something!" I marched up to the pillar and punched it. The blow made my hand sting furiously, but I didn't care. "I know you can hear me in there! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" I started punching at the ice more; I didn't care if Icicle was a girl, I was sick of her and she deserved it.

"Rai! Stop! You're just wasting your time, she won't come out!" Ember pulled my away form the pillar, as I struggled to hit it more. "Now, Kimiko, help me this wall; We can melt out way out!"

"Right! Wudai Mars Fire!" The girl began working on the wall. Icicle had made it super thick, but they were determined to melt us out before the police arrived…though judging by the screams we heard from outside, they were probably here already. My heart skipped a beat as my adrenaline spiked.

"No!" We heard Icicle scream. The pillar shattered and she stepped back into view. Before I knew what was happening she had pinned Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and I to the wall, with a tight chunk of ice holding us in place by our hips and stretching across our arms as well. I had to admit; Icicle was _fast_.

My body went numb as I watched as Icicle hit Ember with another ice chunk, pinning her to the wall as well. But Ember melted right out.

"Eve; you've gone insane!" She shouted at her. Icicle appeared not be listening, as she added more ice layers to the door.

"No Mary! I refuse to be cheated from this deal!"

"Ice you're not being cheating by anyone! Certain situation call for- ah screw it!" Ember shoved Icicle on the floor and aimed a jet of fire at the wall. I could instantly feel the room heating up, but the ice bars holding us against the wall wouldn't give way just yet.

"How dare you push me!" Icicle pulled herself up. "Stop ruining my work!" Icicle turned her attention to the wall and she now had a solid jet of frost blowing at the wall. This was quickly becoming a battle of endurance.

It continued like that for a few minutes. Ember melting the wall and Icicle refreezing it. It seemed like it would never end. All the meanwhile, outside the room the screams from the Dancers were getting louder and inside the room my fellow monks were begging Icicle to let us free.

I decided to try and end the fight.

"Icicle, Ember, this is ridiculous! You can keep working on that wall forever, and you'll never make any progress! Look, Icicle…I'm sorry this deal isn't going to work as long you wanted it to, but…well we still held up our end of the bargain, and I'm sorry if you feel like you've been cheated. But please! You have to let us go!"

"No! Not until I get my justice!"

"I think Raimundo is right!" Ember yelled.

"Since when have I ever cared what YOU think?"

"Look Ice, come on, be reasonable!" Ember dashed in front of Icicle's power beam so that it was aiming at her. Ember weakened her flame, but kept it up so that Icicle little cold blast was aimed at her, but not hitting her.

"What are you doing?" Icicle demanded.

"I'm –Ow, God this hurts- Look Icicle! What if we make a new deal?"

Icicle hesitated, then stopped using her power, and held her hands at her side. Her fingers seemed to be glowing a pale blue color as if they were reading to start up at any moment.

"What kind of deal?"

"I…I'll give you half the money in my cache if you let us go free!" Ember suggested.

"What? You…you can't be serious…"

"I am…I'm dead serious. I don't want to be caught again…I'll do the whole goodness thing. If we escape, I'll go somewhere else and start a new life. You know, turn over a new leaf. Please, Icicle, you have to let us go!"

"But Ember, you spent years collecting all that money! Half your cache is like…millions of dollars! Billions, maybe!"

"Exactly! Think of all you could do with it! Please! What do you say?"

"I don't know…"

"Please!"

"It's a lot of money…but that's just it, it's _just_ money…I can make my own money…"

"Fine, what if I give you something else?"

"Like?"

"I…I…" Ember's face slowly dropped as she thought about it. "I'll give you the house…I'll hand over the dead to our old Texas house. I know you've always wanted it."

"But Ember you love that house…you…" Icicle paused. "No, I don't have to time for sympathy right now. All right fine! I agree to your dead and I will let you all escape, but you owe me a favor some day, Ember."

"Okay, fine, whatever!" Ember dashed over to the wall and melted us all out. Quickly we all four to work on the wall; Ember and Kimiko melting it in places, Omi, Clay, Icicle, and I trying to chip it away with force.

After roughly five minutes, we had broken a hole large enough for us to fit through. Following Icicle's lead, as she knew all the short cuts, we ran the through ice palace. The place was completely deserted as we reached the exit; a large pair of thick steal doors.

The doors were dual operational and Icicle and Clay quickly got to work. As the door slid open we gasped as we saw the world outside.

Ice Dancers were running and fleeing in every direction. Cops and the FBI were everywhere, tackling people to the ground and restraining them. And to make everything worse, a monster snow storm was going on. We could barely see. The Ice Dancers on foot didn't stand a chance; the police all had flashlights. It seemed like the only ones who would escape were the people on the snowmobiles. Several of them were zooming by, as the people on board tried to grab other dancers away from the frenzy. They really cared about each other.

We all stood there, too shocked to move as one of the snowmobiles came rushing over. We hadn't been spotted by the police yet, but one of the dancers had must have seen Icicle.

"Frost Queen! Frost Queen come on! Get on; quickly!"

"Well guys, I do suppose this is goodbye!" She waved to us and hoped onto the seat as the snowmobile pulled to a stop in front of us. The girl in front was about to start the engine, but Icicle told her wait. She then turned to Clay.

"Clay, darling…not to be totally cliché, but…it never would have worked between us, honey. I'm sorry." She blew a kiss and with that, they were off, disappearing from our view in the thick fog.

"Guys come on! We have to get out of here!" Ember said tugging on my sleeve. We all started running into the distance. We didn't know where we were going, but we were hoping to find some sort of shelter where we could safely board Dojo. I worried Dojo wouldn't want to fly us though, as the dragon was cowering in Clay's hat, as usual.

The storm thickened. We had been running for what seemed like hours, but we were still in the midst of the chaos. Kimiko and Ember were leading the way, setting their hands on fire so we could see a little better.

"Hey! Over there! I think it's the Phoenix! We found her!" One of the FBI men shouted. Instantly a dozen people were on out tail. We couldn't shake them.

They gained speed on us. We either had to stand and fight, or keep running and be caught.

But Omi, apparently had a plan. Turning around he hollered in to the storm,

"Wudia Neptune Water!" A burst of water lifted into the air, the droplets quickly freezing into snow. "Raimundo now!

"What? Oh – WUDIA STAR WIND!" The gust of wind forced the snow at the group. Completely halting them as they could no longer see through the dense shower of snow.

"Good one, guys!" Ember called after us.

"Thanks!"

"Guys! Over there!" Clay shouted pointing. I could just barely see a small mass of Ice, curled over to one side. The storm was spraying against it so that the all the wind and snow was blowing right off the top. "Come on! Let's hide!"

Feeling thankful for our incredible luck so far, we ran behind the ice, hiding in it's cover.

"Are we safe?" Kimiko asked.

"I don't know…" I answered.

"I think we're good; for now." Clay told us. "Dojo can you fly?"

The dragon slowly popped his head from Clay's hat for a look. "I can't fly in this; it's too thick. We have to wait for it to clear up a bit."

"So we just have to wait here for the storm to clear up?" Kimiko asked, she sounded scared. We were all scared. "What is someone finds us?"

"We just have to hope for the best." Omi said reassuringly. Suddenly Omi started looking left and right frantically. "Where did Ember go?"

"What do you mean–Ember!" I shouted as I spotted her a few yards away, running into the distance. Her skin beginning to glow red. She was making a run for it. I had seen this before, it was where her self titled name came from; The _phoenix_. She was going to turn into the flame bird and fly away.

"Ember, stop!" I caught up with her. I tried to grab onto her to stop her but I ultimately pushed her down into the snow. "Where are you going?" I asked as we got back up.

"I don't know! Somewhere! Away!" She yelled over the storm. "I'm going to do what you guys said I should! You know, keep a low profile and start a new life."

"Where?"

"I don't know…" She then said confidently. "Europe. Somewhere in Europe, that seems like a good place to start. Maybe I'll go to France…Italy…Or Britain. Maybe Germany."

"But Ember…will I ever see you again?"

"Rai…I will always love you and I still want to be with you. But…we can't risk contacting each other with all this commotion. I'll start a new life somewhere and when I feel safe with my new identity, I'll contact you…" She paused, frowning. "But I understand if you don't want to do that. It'll be weeks, maybe months, maybe even a year, before this all dies down…and, it's okay with me if you want to see other people."

"Ember I already waited nine months for you, and I can wait another nine if I have to!" I told her reassuringly. I kissed her briefly. "I guess this is goodbye, for now…I love you, Ember. Where do you think you'll go, though?"

"Maybe I'll go to Sweden and stay at that ice hotel Eve was raving about. Start there and then work my way somewhere else."

"Okay…uh…you're not gonna burn it down or melt it or anything like that?"

Ember hesitated, then answered sincerely, "No. The old me would have done something like that, but not me now. No more. It's the new me now, and the new me is a good, nice member of society."

There was an awkward silence.

"So…are you going to leave now? The storm is started to die down…"

"I probably should…Oh…I don't want to though, I wish I could stay with you, but I've caused so many problems all ready…" She started to tear up a little. "I guess I'll have to come back for all my stuff later…oh, great, these new clothes aren't fire proof. They'll burn up...So I guess whatever roof top I deiced to land on, I'll be naked on…that's a great start to a new life." She said sarcastically.

"That really sucks…" I commented, then hugged her tightly. "Okay…we have to stop dragging this out…Ember, I love you, and just contact me as soon as you can. I'll see you soon, I hope. And in case I don't…live a good new life."

"You too, Rai…okay…I'll go now." She pulled out of the hug. Then she said in her old, confident voice, "Be seein' you Wind Boy!" I watched as she turned into that familiar flaming bird and took to the skies. It was a familiar sight, now, one I hoped I would never have to see again, I thought, as I wished with all my heart that our reunion would be soon and forever.

With tears of happiness in my eyes, I trudged back to my friends, reassured that the love of my life and I could one day soon finally be together.

As the four of boarded a super-sized Dojo for the flight is all clicked together in my mind.

I was finally ready for a new life.

**The End.**

**Wow…it's over…Wow…I've been waiting for the moment for so long, it seemed like it would never come, and yet…here it is.**

**It's been such a journey and I thank all of you for following me through it.**

**And well…I really don't know what else to say.**

**I guess you can leave your final reviews now as it's goodbye forever.**


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